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COVID-19: Nigeria Acquires Ultra Cold Freezers To Store Pfizer Vaccine

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As COVID-19 vaccines are currently being rolled out globally, Nigeria has acquired the ultra-cold freezers needed to store the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines when they finally arrive in the country.

A visit to the country’s vaccine storage facility on Tuesday showed that there are three Ultra-cold freezers needed to store the doses of vaccines expected by the end of January.

The National Strategic Cold Store located a few miles from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport is where all vaccines are stored on arrival into the country. The vaccines are then distributed to various zones and states across the country.

The Nigerian government said it will receive at least 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of January through the COVAX co-financing public-private facility.

A check by this newspaper in December 2020 showed that the country’s National Strategic Cold Store does not have the capacity to effectively store the vaccines.

The facility houses 11 walk-in cold room refrigerators and four walk-in freezer rooms.

But there were no ultra-cold freezers much needed to store some of the frontrunners such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, according to Iyabo Daradara, Director, Logistics and Health Commodities at the National primary HealthCare Development Agency (NPHCDA).

“The National Strategic cold store has 11 walk-in cold rooms refrigerators which store at +2 to +8 and four walk-in freezer rooms which are used for vaccines that need freezing.

“We do not have ultra-cold freezers in the country,” she said in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, said the country now has enough capacity to store the vaccines.

“Each of this ultra-cold freezer has 700 litres capacity, that is a total of 2,100 capacity. The requirement for the 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines that will be available by the end of January/February is 500 liters, so we have enough capacity for the 100,000 doses,” Mr Shuaib said on Tuesday while addressing journalists at the facility.

He said the ultracold chain storage was only required at the national level and six zonal stores where the vaccines can be stored for a longer period.

He explained that the Pfizer vaccine can be stored for five days at plus two to eight degrees outside of the ultracold chain, which is suitable especially in rural areas.

“Pfizer has informed us that the COVID-19 vaccine can be stored for five days at plus two to eight degrees outside of the ultracold chain, which is suitable especially at a low level,” Mr Shuiab said.

“This means that the ultracold chain storage is only required at the national level and six zonal stores where the vaccines can be stored for a longer period, the vaccines then will be transferred to lower levels using dry ices in isolated dry thermals when they are ready to be deployed.”

He said the federal government was working with states to ensure vaccines are safely distributed to every part of the country.

“The private sector will be providing dry ices. This is what we need to keep the vaccines potent when they are taken out of the cold chain equipment. So we can move them to the states, LGAs, and health facilities where they will be utilized.”

Mr Shuaib noted that Nigeria already has a storage facility for other approved vaccines and are making efforts to get some of them. This, he said, led to less investment in ultracold chain equipment.

“Apart from the Pfizer vaccines, there are other vaccines in the portfolio of the COVAX and other vaccine candidates. Our plan is not to over-invest in ultracold chain equipment given that there are other vaccines that can be kept between + 2 and + 8 degree Celsius,” he said.

There are other approved vaccines that do not require expensive storage facilities like the Pfizer and bioNTech vaccine.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, for instance, has lower interim efficacy results but offers the best possibility for distribution in Nigeria because the temperature required is not as low and manufacturers can produce it at a lower price.

Mr Shuaib said the government would be focusing on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that requires + 2 to + 8 degrees Celsius.

He reiterated that all imported vaccines will be tested by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) and certified safe for human use before it is administered.

“We will like to assure all Nigerians that this verification exercise will also be applicable to the COVID-19 vaccine and NAFDAC will continue to monitor the efficacy of the vaccine even after its administration to ensure proper documentation of any side effects,” he said.

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Naira Depreciates Because I Was Out Of The Country — Odumeje

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The Mountain of Holy Ghost Intervention and Deliverance Ministry’s Prophet Chukwuemeka Ohanemere, popularly known as Odumeje, declared that he had returned to Nigeria in an effort to halt the dollar’s appreciation relative to the Nigerian Naira.

Odumeje, in a video recorded at the airport while returning from London, boasted: “This is Indaboski Bahose. The war and the battle. A man full of power and activities. The only man who tells you, “I will bring down a dollar,” and he gets it done. When I left the country, dollar began to rise; now, I am back, I will continue where I stopped.”

In a video recording of one of his church programmes a few weeks ago, the self-acclaimed prophet had claimed that the exchange rate of dollar to naira came down because of one of his powers, which he dubbed ‘Abidoshaker.’

His claims came on the heels of the Nigerian currency’s significant gains after exchanging at N1,920 per dollar.

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Two Brothers In Police Net For Alleged Gang-Rape In Ogun

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Olamijuwon Noibi and Lukman Olatunbosun, two brothers, have been taken into custody by the Ogun State Police Command on charges of gang rape at Oke Eri, Atan Ijebu Area, Ogun.

A trustworthy law enforcement source, on Thursday, revealed that Noibi had tricked Aminat Yakub into coming to his flat, where he then allegedly sexually abused her while plotting with Olatunbosun, his younger sibling.

Yakub was allegedly invited by Noibi to visit his mother on Saturday, but when she got to his residence, she didn’t get to see her.

After making her consume an alcoholic beverage called “Bullet,” he allegedly physically attacked her before raping her.

According to The Punch, Noibi was also coerced his younger brother, Olatunbosun, with a knife so he could join him in the act, and filmed both of them while they were having sex.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ogun Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident and said that the suspects had been arrested and would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for a discreet investigation.

“On the 24/4/2024, at about 13:00hrs, one Aminat Yakub ‘F’, Aged 21 years, of Main Estate Oke Eri Area, came to the station and reported that on the 21/4/2024, at about 12:30hrs, she went to the house of one Olamijuwon Noibi ‘M’ at Oke Eri on invitation to come and greet his mother. When she got there, she discovered that his mother was not at home.

“Juwon forcefully pushed her into his room, then forced her to drink Black Bullet and forcefully had sex with her twice after a serious beating. He later invited his younger brother, Lukman, to come and have sex with her but when his younger brother refused, he took a knife threatening to kill both of them. In the end, his younger brother ended up having sex with her after a serious beating and equally took a video of them.

“Upon the receipt of the complaint, the team of patrol led by Asp Ayoola Alidu at the station and went to the scene of incident. The two alleged suspect was arrested one Olamijuwon Noibi, ‘M’, Age 27 Yrs and one Lukman Olatunbosun, ‘M’, Age 20 yrs,” a police statement.

The PPRO noted that both brothers confessed to the alleged crime, and the victim was taken to the General Hospital Ijebu-Ode for examination, saying that the suspects would soon be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for “discreet investigation and further development will be communicated.”

Earlier report had it that the operatives of the Rivers State Police Command had arrested a 30-year-old man identified as Jeffrey for allegedly defiling the teenage daughter of his landlady in an estate in Abuloma, Port Harcourt Local government Area of the state.

It was learnt that the suspect, who had a tailoring shop at the estate, lured the 13-year-old girl to his business place one evening under the guise of showing her clothes.

But Jeffrey ended up locking the shop, overpowered the girl, and allegedly had his way with her.

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Lagos Government Pays N1.5bn WASSCE Fees For 58,000 Students

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58,000 pupils will be registered for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination this year, with the state government spending N1.5 billion, according to Tolani Alli-Balogun, Commissioner of the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

In announcing the ministry’s efforts to mark the first year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office, the commissioner made this statement on Thursday.

On May 29, 2023, Sanwo-Olu took the oath of office for a second term as governor, vowing in his inauguration speech to disappoint the people of Lagos.

The commissioner, who spoke at the state secretariat, said, “The administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has never defaulted on the payment of WASCCE fees of all public school SS3 students in the four years of Governor Sanwo-Olus’s first term in office. The state government paid over N4.2bn between 2020 and 2023 to keep our promise of full payment of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination fees.

“In the current school year (2024), the governor has approved the sum of N1,571,076,000 as registration fees and other cost for 58,188 SS3 students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.”

Last year, the West African Examination Council, which conducts WASSCE, noted that it had concluded plans to begin computer-based examinations in 2024.

It released the results of the first-ever CBT exam, 2024–First Series, in March this year.

The analysis of candidates’ performance showed that out of the 8,139 candidates that sat the examination, 3,424 candidates representing 42.07 percent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics).

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