NATIONAL: FG to review Jan 18 school resumption date over Covid-19 scare

THE  Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has said the initial January 18 date announced by the Federal Government for resumption of schools across the country is not sacrosanct.

He said the date would be subjected to a review as a new date might be announced.

Adamu said this following the spike in the number of people that have contracted the deadly Covid-19 infection.

He said, “On the January 18 resumption, we are reviewing it, we are going to review it. At the PTF meeting today (Monday) we considered it and tomorrow (today, Tuesday), the ministry is going to take it up.”

Meanwhile, the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, has reacted to the call by Nigerian Governors’ Forum that Nigeria should strive to produce local vaccines that can cure Covid-19 instead of shopping for it abroad.

Reacting to the call by governors Shuaib said producing vaccines is complicated and requires massive investments

He said, “There are questions around why we are not producing the COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria. I want to just put it on record that the process of producing a vaccine is very complex and complicated. You don’t just go to a shelf and pick up a vaccine. So, it requires massive investments that have not been done for many decades.”

He  explained that while Nigeria planned to vaccinate 70 per cent of its population, vaccine doses that would cover 20 per cent of the 70 per cent will be provided free the COVAX.

“It is the 50 per cent balance that we will pay for and the fund will be raised domestically,” he further explained.