#COVID19: CBN Working On Grants, Facilities Framework For Researchers To Develop Vaccines

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it is developing a framework under which grants and long term facilities will be provided to researchers, science institutions and biotechnology firms to develop the Nigerian Vaccine.

Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this at the unveiling of the ThisDay Dome COVID-19  Testing, Tracing and Treatment Center, Abuja.

Emefiele said: “If we are to wait for foreign countries to develop their own vaccines, we will be the last in the queue to receive curative remedies for our teeming population.”

He challenged Nigerian scientists at home and in the diaspora to go back to their laboratories and develop a Nigerian vaccine.

On the 12th of May 2020, 146 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours.

Till date, 4787 cases have been confirmed, 959 cases have been discharged and 158 deaths have been recorded in 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The 146 new cases were reported from 20 states which include – Lagos(57), Kano(27), Kwara(10), Edo(9), Bauchi(8), Yobe(7), Kebbi(4), Oyo(4), Katsina(3), Niger(3), Plateau(2), Borno(2), Benue(2), Sokoto(2), Gombe(1), Enugu(1), Ebonyi(1), Ogun(1), FCT(1), Rivers(1).

There are now more than over 60,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.

According to the latest data by the John Hopkins University and Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases as and when. Lesotho is the country holding out as of May 12.

The total confirmed worldwide cases stand at 4.2 million +, while deaths: 292,000+.