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poor payNo fewer than 50 doctors have left the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) in Cross River State for greener pastures abroad due to frustration from incessant kidnappings, poor infrastructure, electricity, remuneration and other challenges.

In the last two years, over 18 doctors have been kidnapped and each time that happened, the state branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) would embark on strike, thereby paralysing activities at the UCTH.

vitamin DExperts from Oxford to Princeton have signed an open letter to global governments arguing vitamin D could ward off coronavirus infections, disease and even deaths. 

The letter, sent to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and health secretary Matt Hancock on Monday, called for healthy adults to up their daily vitamin D intake to at least 2,000 international units, or 50 micrograms, amid the pandemic.

new variantMedical experts have warned that the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, which is 70 per cent more contagious, could affect effectiveness of current vaccines. The fresh disease has shown face in United Kingdom and a couple of other nations.

To avert putting the entire national immunisation programme in jeopardy, they advised the Federal Government to prioritise local production of the therapy. This comes as President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, charged the Federal Government to ensure thorough product review before consumption.

WHO EuropeThe World Health Organization in Europe said Tuesday it would convene its members to discuss how to handle a new variant of the novel coronavirus discovered in the UK.

Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe said on Twitter that the organisation was closely monitoring the spread of the new variant and would “convene member states to discuss strategies for testing, reducing transmission & communicating risks,” without specifying a timeframe.

excruHollywood celebrity and famous talk show host, Ellen Degeneres, who tested positive for COVID-19 recently, says there are some unusual symptoms of COVID-19, such as excruciating back pain, that many people are not are aware.She based the assertion on her experience and recovery from the viral infection. 

Degeneres, 62, had, on December 10, announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19. Sharing her experience in a new video posted on Twitter @TheEllenShow, she said, “One thing that they don’t tell you is that you get, somehow, excruciating back pain. “Didn’t know that was a symptom, but I talked to some other people —back pain. Who knew? How come? Back pain. Bad.”

100mThe Nigerian Centre for Disease Control says over 100 million Nigerians would have received the COVID-19 vaccine by March 2021. This was stated by the NCDC Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu, while speaking on Channels TV Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday.

Ihekweazu expressed confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine saying Nigeria has been able to eliminate polio and fight smallpox through vaccines. He said, “No medical intervention, not one, has saved more lives since the beginning of mankind than vaccination.

nigerians wontNational Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, says the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to Nigerians free of charge by the time vaccination begins. He disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday.

The PTF coordinator said approval has been given by the presidency to that effect, noting that the COVID-19 vaccine will be available in Nigeria on the platform of the GAVI arrangement. 

why aThe Deputy Director of Pharmacy Department, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, Kingsley Ekwunife says pharmacists involved in drug compounding must continue to be diligent, noting that any error from them can result in deaths of many patients. 

Ekwunife said where a doctor can be excused for making a prescription mistake, an industrial pharmacist cannot be pardoned for committing an error in drug production or compounding.

pregnantPregnant women with COVID-19 during the third trimester are unlikely to pass the virus to their newborns, according to a research conducted in the United States of America. The study, led by Dr Andrea Edlow of the Harvard Medical School was published in the journal, JAMA Network Open.

According to the publication, the study followed 127 pregnant women admitted to Boston hospitals during the spring of 2020. Among the 64 pregnant women who contracted SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, no newborns tested positive, the study said.

first setThe Federal Government has put in place a technical committee to look into the priority list of those to be considered for early COVID-19 vaccination. Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, stated this on Thursday [today] during the joint national briefing of Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.

He said the group might focus primarily on the elderly in society, frontline health workers and people with comorbidity, among others. “At the moment, we have a technical group looking at issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccines.

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