COVID-19: WHO begins clinical trial of vaccine in Nigeria as cases jumps 6,000 mark

The World Health Organization (WHO) has begun a clinical trial of available drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 in Nigeria.

The development was confirmed by the Country Representative of the WHO, Fiona Braka, while speaking during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Monday.

It would be recalled that Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Ogun, Kaduna and Sokoto states had recently signed up to participate in the solidarity trial.

“The solidarity trial is a large multi-country effort that is going on across several countries globally. We are picking up on that trial in Nigeria. Some states have started while some are yet to start.

“These are not new drugs that we are trying but drugs that we already have available but are simply being repurposed for the intention of determining their effect on Coronavirus. We will keep you updated on what the timeline for the vaccine will look like. But we are still early in the process in collection of the data,” Braka said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria Confirmed cases has jumped over 6,000.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control announced 216 new cases, bringing the tally to 6,175.