Nigeria has recorded 563 new cases of COVID-19, bringing to 37,225 the number of confirmed cases in the country.
This is coming as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has expressed excitement as two COVID-19 vaccine candidates have shown prospects in preventing the virus among humans, according to early clinical results published by The Lancet in the United Kingdom.
Announcing the cases yesterday, the NCDC said the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded 102 new cases; Lagos, 100; Plateau, 52; Kwara, 50; Abia, 47; Kaduna, 35; Benue, 34; Oyo, 26; Ebonyi, 24; Kano, 16; Niger, 15; Anambra, 14; Gombe, 12; Edo, 11; Rivers, six; Nasarawa and Delta, five each; Borno, three; Enugu and Bauchi, two each; and Kebbi, one.
It said: “Nigeria has recorded 37,225 cases of COVID-19. 15,333 patients have been discharged, while 801 persons have died.”
Meanwhile, the world may soon heave a sigh of relief as two COVID-19 vaccine candidates have shown prospects in preventing the virus among humans.
NCDC has expressed excitement over the development, saying the third phase of the trial vaccines will determine their efficacies against the disease.
In a tweet, NCDC said: “Phase I and II trials of the COVID-19 vaccine shows promise, however, phase III are needed to validate its efficacy against the virus.”
The vaccines, developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca have shown signs of inducing an immune response in patients involved in its trials.
According to The Lancet, the trial results found that the vaccines generated two ‘strong’ immune responses: the production of both antibodies and T cells, which find and attack virus cells.
The Director, Jenner Institute, Oxford University, Adrian Hill said: “We are getting both sides of the immune system stimulated and that is fairly unusual for vaccines.
An infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Dr. William Schaffner said: “It is good news. It is another step forward on the long road to having a COVID-19 vaccine.”
Schaffner was however not involved in the vaccine research.
Dozens of teams across the world are working on other potential COVID-19 vaccines.
Moderna, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company, published its PHASE 1 trial results of its vaccine last week, and announced plans to begin its final phase of human testing at the end of July.
