The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 869 new infections of COVID-19 Wednesday.
In a Twitter update via its verified handle, the government agency said there are now 149,369 confirmed cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in Nigeria.
It said a total of 125,722 people have so far been discharged from hospital, while the number of deaths so far is 1,787.
As of Wednesday, more than 109.5 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with 61.6 million cases considered recovered or resolved, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 2.4 million.
South Africa has reportedly administered its first vaccine as it inoculates health workers with the Johnson & Johnson shot as part of a research study.
While Zimbabwe will begin vaccinating on Thursday, starting with health workers and other essential service personnel, the CBC reported.
In Europe, Pfizer and BioNTech said Wednesday they have finalized an agreement to supply the European Union with another 200 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. and German companies said in a statement that the doses come on top of the 300 million vaccine doses initially ordered. The EU’s executive commission has an option to request a further 100 million doses.
They said the 200 million doses are expected to be delivered this year, with an estimated 75 million of them in the second quarter.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first of three so far to be approved for use in the EU, which faces criticism for a slow start to its vaccination campaign compared with countries such as Israel, Britain and the United States. The other two EU-approved vaccines are from Moderna and AstraZeneca.
In the Asia-Pacific region, months after other major economies, Japan has begun giving its first coronavirus vaccines to front-line health workers. Many are wondering if the campaign will reach enough people, and in time, to save a Summer Olympics already delayed a year by the worst pandemic in a century.
Health officials in India say cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa and Brazil have been found in India. They said Tuesday that the variant was detected in four travellers last month. Over 150 cases of another variant first detected in the United Kingdom have previously been found in India.
Mexico has topped two million confirmed coronavirus cases and 175,000 deaths, though officials concede that the country’s extremely low rate of testing means the real figures are much higher.
Meanwhile, the BBC reported that the world’s first human trials have been given the green light in the UK.
Healthy, young volunteers will be infected with coronavirus to test vaccines and treatments in the world’s first COVID-19 “human challenge” study, which will take place in the UK.
The study, which has received ethics approval, will start in the next few weeks and recruit 90 people aged 18-30.
They will be exposed to the virus in a safe and controlled environment while medics monitor their health.
