The World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked Nigeria’s COVID-19 response as the fourth-best in the world. Dr. Walter Mulombo, WHO Country representative said this on Thursday while marking the arrival of the first batch of the 177,600 doses of the Johnson&Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Abuja. The WHO official commended the government, adding that the joint effort of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC), Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) among others for the quick response of both treatment and vaccination exercise is impressive. Mulombo said “We are witnessing the symbolic arrival of 177,600 Johnson & Johnson vaccines, another landmark event in Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 pandemic; widely acclaimed by many as one of the most successful so far in the world. “Nigeria was ranked fourth among the top ten most successful responses to COVID-19.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has on Wednesday said an additional 610 new COVID-19 infection has been recorded, the second-highest daily infection in nearly six months. This brings Nigeria’s total confirmed infections to 179,118 with Lagos, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States leading the surge in infection rates.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has threatened house officers in hospitals who join the strike action by the National Association of Resident Doctors. This was made known in a statement by the Council’s Registrar, Dr. T.A.B Sanusi, saying house officers who join Resident Doctors on strike will risk reposting without remuneration.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has disclosed that people living with HIV have a significant risk of infection of the COVID-19. According to a new report, the health body said following clinical surveillance data from 37 countries, nearly a quarter of people with HIV and also hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 died.

Nigeria is set to receive 3,930,910 doses of Pfizer-N Tech COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX facility next month donated by the United States. Another 3,577,860 doses of Pfizer-Bio-N Tech vaccine is expected in the third quarter of this year from the COVAX facility with 29,850,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine donated by the African Union Commission.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed a case of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2 in the country. The NCDC in a statement said the variant was detected in a traveller to Nigeria, following the routine travel test required of all international travellers and genomic sequencing at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory, Abuja. The delta variant has been described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the most transmissible variant, and also is responsible for the spike in about 98 countries across the world where it has been reported.