The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control Monday said a new variant of COVID-19 had been detected in Nigeria and 15 other countries. The new strain, B.1.2.5, which is different from the highly infectious B.1.1.7 has, however, not been described as a variant of concern.
Disclosing this at the press briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, the NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Iheakwazu, said researchers and scientists were still working hard to understand if this variant had any effect on the virus transmissibility, immunity, as well as diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.
He stated, “There is a new variant, the B.1.2.5 which we have begun to detect in Nigeria and 15 other countries. It is important to note that this variant has not been described as a variant of concern yet.
“Researchers and scientists are still working hard to understand if this variant has any effect on the virus transmissibility, immunity, as well as diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.
“This is because the variant has some similar mutations with the B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 variants first detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, respectively.”
Iheakwazu stated that the NCDC was scaling up its sequencing capacity to have a better understanding of the burden of variants of concern in the country.
According to him, the risk of virus mutation was higher when there is high transmission of the virus.
The DG said the September and October 2020 household prevalence surveys carried out in Lagos, Enugu, Nasarawa and Gombe States revealed the level of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among the population.
Nigeria may get COVID-19 vaccine within one week
Shuaib, who spoke at the weekly press briefing, declined to give specific date of delivery.
“The information we have is that we are likely to get the vaccines within one week. What that means is that we may get them between now and next Monday.
“But we will not give a specific day of arrival until we get such information from the manufacturers,” Shuaib said.
The Chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, cautioned Nigerians against patronising black market out of desperation to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We, therefore, plead for patience and vigilance. We also plead with Nigerians not to procure uncertified vaccines from the black market,” he said.
He also warned that decisions made by leaders and citizens will determine the level of success in tackling the acute phase.
