UNITED Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tomorrow host the Global Vaccine Summit, bringing together leaders from around the world at a virtual event to pledge their support to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

A statement issued by Press & Public Affairs Officer, British Deputy High Commission, Lagos, Ndidiamaka Eze, said the event is aimed at protecting a further 300 million children against infectious diseases like measles, typhoid and polio.

The Global Vaccine Summit aims to raise US$7.4 billion to help Gavi save up to eight million lives.

The statement reads: “As host, the UK is continuing its global leadership on tackling preventable deaths and stopping the spread of coronavirus.

“This builds on our recent role as co-lead for the Global Coronavirus Response Initiative, with Japan, Germany, France, Canada, Norway, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia and the European Commission, which successfully raised 7.4 billion euros toward vaccines, tests and treatment to tackle the virus at the Coronavirus Global Response International Pledging Conference on May 4.

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“At that conference, the UK pledged £388 million, which is made up of support we have announced for new vaccines, tests and treatments. This includes:

• £250 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to research a coronavirus vaccine – the biggest contribution of any country to this fund; and
• £40 million to support the Global Therapeutics Accelerator, a fund for the rapid development of coronavirus treatments.”

*£23 million to support the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics to develop rapid tests for the virus to help identify and slow its spread; and

*£75 million for the World Health Organisation to help them support countries who have weak healthcare systems.”

The UK, the added, is collaborating with our international partners on the global effort to find a vaccine as soon as possible and ensure it’s available across the world, including in Nigeria.

“We are working closely with industry and the Bio-industry Association to accelerate vaccine development and manufacturing in the UK, so that when a vaccine is available, it can be made quickly at scale. We are now calling on other governments to step up, follow our lead and make commitments to fund fully Gavi’s vital mission for the next five years,” it said.

Speaking on the upcoming summit, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing said: “Producing a vaccine for Covid-19 is a priority for the UK government as this will help save lives in Nigeria and globally from the deadly virus.  Gavi is already working hard with partners to ensure any future vaccine that is safe and effective is delivered at scale around the world.

“We welcome Gavi’s partnership with Nigeria over the years, which has helped to fight diseases such as yellow fever, meningitis and measles by improving immunisation rates and strengthening the health systems across the country.”

THE number of cases of coronavirus in Brazil has surpassed half a million, the country’s Health Ministry has said.

The country had recorded 514,849 cases of infection with the virus, the latest official figures showed.

After the United States’ nearly 1.8 million cases, Brazil is the country with the highest number of officially recorded infections worldwide.

Brazil is the biggest nation in Latin America and is carrying out relatively low levels of testing, meaning the real figure is likely significantly higher.

There have been at least 29,314 virus-related deaths so far in the country.

Brazil’s death toll is in fourth place globally, behind the U.S., Britain and Italy, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

In many cities in Brazil, hospitals have reached capacity.

Authorities have set up makeshift clinics in football stadiums.

Meanwhile, a dispute between President Jair Bolsonaro, several governors and congress has paralysed the country.

Right-wing populist leader Bolsonaro sees the COVID-19 lung disease as a “mild flu” and has rejected protective measures.

But many state leaders have put in place their own restrictions on movement and public life to stem the spread of the virus.

On Sunday, there were clashes between Bolsonaro supporters, anti-government protesters and the Police in several Brazilian cities.

Meanwhile, the U.S. announced it would send Brazil 1,000 ventilators and two million doses of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that President Donald Trump and Bolsonaro have both touted without scientific backing.

The U.S. said hydroxychloroquine will be used to prevent infection among Brazil’s nurses, despite Trump’s own drug regulator, saying it should only be used for certain hospitalised patients and in trial settings.

“It will also be used as a therapeutic to treat Brazilians who become infected,’’ the White House said in a Sunday statement.

English schools reopen for the first time since they were shut 10 weeks ago because of the coronavirus pandemic, media report said on Monday.

However, many parents planned to keep children at home amid fears ministers were moving too fast.

The easing of strict measures will mean classes will restart for some younger children, up to six people can meet outside in England and outdoor markets can reopen.

Elite competitive sport can resume without spectators and over 2 million of the most vulnerable will now be allowed to spend time outdoors.

In view of the fact that Britain recorded one of the highest death rates from COVID-19, many are worried that it is happening too soon.

The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) warned the government that it could lead to a second spike in infections.

Business Minister Alok Sharma told BBC TV that the overall view from SAGE their overall view is that we must do this cautiously and that is precisely what we are doing.

“These are very cautious steps that we are taking,” he said, while adding it was a “very sensitive moment”.

Ministers have been wrestling with how to kick-start the economy, which has been devastated by the lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, while avoiding a possible second wave of infections which would cause further damage.

According to BBC TV, the government says the relaxation of rules yesterday represents only a limited easing but there has been concern that the country is still not ready for the changes.

It noted that more people were beginning to ignore guidelines on social distancing.

A survey for the National Foundation for Educational Research found school leaders estimated 46 per cent of parents would keep their children at home because of concerns, fears echoed by some health officials.

President Donald Trump on Monday urged U.S. states to crack down on violent protests that have engulfed cities, saying officials should “dominate” and arrest people to restore order after a sixth straight night of vandalism and looting, media reported yesterday.

Residents and business owners in cities from New York to Santa Monica, California, spent yesterday sweeping up broken glass and taking stock of damage after protests over racial inequities and excessive police force turned violent again overnight.

“You have to dominate,” Trump told the governors in a private call, the New York Times reported. “If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time – they’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.”

CBS News, which also obtained audio of the call, said Trump had pinned the violence on the “radical left.”

Dozens of cities across the United States remain under curfews at a level not seen since riots following the 1968 assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. The National Guard deployed in 23 states and Washington, D.C.

Authorities fought to put out fires near the White House and halt the looting of shops in numerous cities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency reported “significant ongoing” civil unrest in 36 U.S. cities, including smaller ones like Fargo, North Dakota, and Roanoke, Virginia.

One person was killed in Louisville, Kentucky, overnight where police and National Guard troops returned fire while trying to disperse a crowd.

“It’s devastating and heartbreaking,” Alex Flowers, 30, said as she swept broken glass from the sidewalk outside Wasteland, a used-clothing store in Santa Monica, California, early yesterday. “I came to help clean up the city that has been destroyed and help the business owners and employees.”

THE war against COVID-19 in Africa is being derailed by widespread misinformation and stigma targeting victims and their families, Save the Children, an international charity said on Monday.

Assessments carried out by Save the Children in several African countries in April have revealed rampant myths and misinformation regarding the viral respiratory disease, which placed bottlenecks towards its containment in the continent.

“Misinformation and myths about COVID-19 could delay the introduction, uptake of measures designed to slow and mitigate the spread of the disease,’’ said Eric Hazard, Save the Children’s Pan-African Campaign and Policy Director .

Hazard added that it could spread faster, moving silently and hidden in communities.

The assessments that were conducted in Somalia, Zambia and Tanzania indicated widespread prejudice against people infected by COVID-19 alongside frontline healthcare workers and Diaspora communities.

Almost 42 per cent of 3,000 people surveyed in Somalia said they believed COVID-19 was generated by the government while 27 per cent felt it was fuelling hostility against specific minority groups.

An assessment of 121 people in Tanzania revealed that almost 86 per cent of them were of the view that the disease generated stigma against particular ethnic or racial groups.

Agency Reporter

A second outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has struck the Democratic Republic of the Congo, even before an earlier outbreak in a volatile eastern region has formally ended.

The Congolese health ministry said Monday it had identified six cases of the Ebola virus in Equateur Province, a region along the Congo River on the border with the Republic of the Congo. Four people have died.

The Equateur Province was the site of a relatively small Ebola outbreak in 2018, which infected 53 people and killed 29. That outbreak was brought under control when health officials rapidly deployed a vaccine to several towns and villages, including Mbandaka, a trading port on the Congo River.

The new outbreak appears unrelated to another conflagration that erupted in North Kivu Province, along Congo’s eastern border with Uganda and Rwanda, in 2018. That incident became the second-worst Ebola outbreak in modern history, fueled by violence and unrest in a war-torn region where about a million people are displaced.
The World Health Organization said the health ministry had identified 3,406 cases, and 2,243 had died.

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Days before the health ministry was set to declare the end of the North Kivu outbreak, several new cases were detected in the region. No new cases have appeared for several weeks, and the last patient stricken with the virus has been discharged from the hospital.

The new outbreak adds to an already perilous moment for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The health ministry is already dealing with the world’s largest measles outbreak, and the ministry said Monday it had identified 3,195 confirmed coronavirus cases. Most of the coronavirus cases, 2,896, have hit Kinshasa, one of Africa’s most populous cities.

The Ebola virus now poses another challenge to health ministry officials, who will race to contain it before anyone infected can board a boat or ferry on the river. Mbandaka is about 200 miles from Kinshasa, raising the risk of an outbreak in a densely-packed urban core that would further strain an already-stretched health system.

(www.newsnow.co.uk)