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Day: 7 January 2021

Jan72021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Coronavirus variant discoveries in UK and South Africa began with a bet of a bottle of wine

Coronavirus variant discoveries in UK and South Africa began with a bet of a bottle of wine

NEWS
The discovery of important new coronavirus variants in the UK and South Africa began with a bet of a bottle of wine. In mid-November, Tulio de Oliveira, who leads a genetics lab in South Africa, began receiving anxious phone calls from physicians in the Eastern Cape province who were seeing an explosive growth in Covid-19 patients. Hospitals were quickly becoming overrun. The increase had seemingly come out of nowhere. "It was shocking," said de Oliveira, a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. De Oliveira immediately asked for samples of the virus from patients' noses so he could genetically sequence them. In less than a week, he sequenced 16 samples. All 16 had similar mutations -- and an unusually high number of mutations. "I said to myself, 't...
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Jan72021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Covid: WHO Team Investigating Virus Origins Denied Entry to China

Covid: WHO Team Investigating Virus Origins Denied Entry to China

Coronavirus, NEWS
A World Health Organization (WHO) team due to investigate the origins of Covid-19 in the city of Wuhan has been denied entry to China. Two members were already en route, with the WHO saying the problem was a lack of visa clearances. However, China has challenged this, saying details of the visit, including dates, were still being arranged. The long-awaited probe was agreed upon by Beijing after many months of negotiations with the WHO. The virus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019, with the initial outbreak linked to a market. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "very disappointed" that China had not yet finalised the permissions for the team's arrivals "given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the la...
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Jan72021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
COVID-19 Vaccine Will not Destroy People’s Immunity –Tomori

COVID-19 Vaccine Will not Destroy People’s Immunity –Tomori

Coronavirus, NEWS
A professor of virology, Oyewale Tomori, says the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines will not affect the herd immunity of Nigerians. Tomori, in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, said it would be difficult to determine the percentage of Nigerians with herd immunity to COVID-19. He said, “Advising Nigerians against taking COVID-19 vaccine is totally wrong; it is creating more problems for our people. Getting a vaccine does not destroy herd immunity, otherwise, why would we be vaccinating our children several times for polio? “The normal standard of vaccine is that when you are exposed to something before and you get that thing again, it boosts your immunity. It is called anamnestic reaction; your body reacts and produces more antibodies. “There is no figure o
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Jan72021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Infection Surge Detected in Schools, Offices, says NCDC

Infection Surge Detected in Schools, Offices, says NCDC

Coronavirus, NEWS
he Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Wednesday explained why the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 directed that all schools in the country should remain shut till January 18. The NCDC Director-General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who stated this in response to an enquiry by one of our correspondents, said the centre detected increased COVID-19 cases in schools and offices. Ihekweazu also said as part of efforts to battle COVID-19 second wave, the NCDC had deployed more rapid response teams to states. Recall that following the outbreak of COVID-19 second wave, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, at its press conference on December 21, said all schools in the country would remain shut till January 18. Ihekweazu, in his response to one of our correspondent’s questions,
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Jan72021 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
All-Time-High 1,664 New COVID-19 Cases Recorded in 22 States, FCT

All-Time-High 1,664 New COVID-19 Cases Recorded in 22 States, FCT

Coronavirus, NEWS
Nigeria recorded 1,664 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections nationally to 94,369, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has said. The NCDC also said that Nigeria recorded five deaths in the past 24 hours. The agency made this known via its verified Twitter handle late Wednesday night. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the daily increase was a new record and considerably higher than Tuesday’s 1,354 confirmed cases. It said that 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory recorded the new infections with Lagos having the highest number of cases with 642. The FCT, the centre said recorded 407 new cases while Plateau recorded 160 new cases. Also, it said Kaduna State recorded 83 new infections while Rivers State recorded 62. Others state are Adamawa
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