The Nigerian government says it is studying Russia’s claim of developing the first COVID-19 vaccine.
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force, PTF, on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, who disclosed this during the Task Force daily briefing in Abuja, yesterday, said 13,844 of the 14,906 Nigerians so far evacuated have undergone COVID-19 tests, while 684 of them tested positive.
The government also decried the resurgence in the number of healthcare workers coming down with the virus, saying it has taken concrete steps to mitigate the trend.
On Russia’s claim of vaccine discovery, Mustapha said: “Globally, the world continues to pursue the search for a vaccine with over 1000 trials on-going and different claims of levels of success.
“We note particularly, the announcement by the President of Russia on the breakthrough in the development of a vaccine, even as we study the developments.”
The SGF also announced that no fatality was recorded on Wednesday, was, however, quick to concede that the battle was far from being won.
He said: “The PTF wishes to note as we have done before that fewer numbers of confirmed cases have been recorded in the last two weeks. This should never be misconstrued as victory over the virus.
“There is still a serious battle to be fought ahead of us as a people and as a country. It is, important, therefore, that we continue to build on our successes and not do anything to detract from them.
“Fighting the pandemic successfully will take a global effort and Nigeria will not be left out whenever and where ever progress is made. However, the health and safety of Nigerians will always remain our priority in the pursuit of a solution.
“It might interest you to note that of the 14,906 evacuees received during this COVID-19 pandemic, close to 80% are youths for which we are glad that only 684 tested positive to coronavirus of the 13,844 so far tested. ‘’In the coming days, we hope to receive more evacuees from different parts of the world. The National Coordinator will elaborate on this.”
