Another COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna, records 94.5% success - Newstrends
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Another COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna, records 94.5% success

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The quest for effective vaccines to combat the ravaging coronavirus has recorded another breakthrough with a United States-based biotech firm, Moderna Inc, saying on Monday that its experimental vaccine was 94.5 per cent effective in preventing the disease, according to an analysis of its clinical trial.

The report from multiple sources including BBC, Reuters and The Guardian comes a week after Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective.

The results for both vaccines were from interim analyses of large clinical studies.

An interim analysis of the Moderna released on Monday, and based on 95 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infections found the candidate vaccine has an efficacy of 94.5 per cent.

 

 

In the result from the Moderna study, there were 30,000 volunteers; half got two doses of the vaccine 28 days apart; half got two shots of a placebo on the same schedule.

There were 95 instances of COVID-19 illness among the study participants — only five of those cases were in the vaccinated group. Ninety were in the group receiving the placebo.

Of these, there were said to be 11 cases of severe disease. The results indicate the vaccine was inducing the kind of immune response that protects people if they were exposed to the coronavirus.

Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, was quoted as saying in a statement, “This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease.”

Moderna said it had improved the shelf life and stability of its own vaccine, meaning that it can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures of 2C to 8C for 30 days.

 

 

 

The company said it planned to apply to the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, for emergency-use authorisation in the coming weeks.

The results are the latest encouraging news to emerge from the breakneck effort to develop a vaccine against coronavirus and follow a similar interim analysis earlier this month from a collaboration between Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech, which suggest its vaccine is 90 per cent effective at preventing illness.

The Moderna vaccine is however not expected to be available outside the US until next year.

The biotech company said it would have 20m doses ready to ship in the US before the end of 2020 and hoped to manufacture 500 million to one billion doses globally next year.

So far, the UK does not stand to benefit from the vaccine. Moderna has agreed to provide the US with 100 million doses, with an option to buy 400m more. Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Qatar and Israel have also signed agreements, and the European commission has a “potential purchase agreement” for 80m-160m doses. The UK chose not to participate in the EU vaccine purchase scheme, with the health secretary, Matt Hancock, arguing in July that the government could source vaccine faster on its own. However, a Whitehall source said the UK government was in “advanced discussions” to procure doses of the Moderna vaccine.

The Moderna vaccine, which is based on similar mRNA technology as BioNTech’s, is expected to be assessed by the FDA on a final analysis of 151 COVID cases among trial participants who will be followed on average for more than two months.

If the results remain as impressive as the trial goes on, the Moderna vaccine could potentially provide a major advantage over the Pfizer vaccine.

While Pfizer’s vaccine requires ultracold freezing between -70C and -80C from production facility to patient, Moderna said it had improved the shelf life and stability of its own vaccine, meaning that it can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures of 2C to 8C for 30 days.

It could be stored for six months at -20C for shipping and long-term storage, the company said.

 

 

Cost and side effects

At £38 to £45 for a course of two shots, Moderna’s vaccine is more expensive than the other frontrunners. AstraZeneca and Oxford University are aiming to sell their vaccine at about £3 a dose, while vaccines in trial with Johnson and Johnson and collaboration between Sanofi and GSK are both expected to cost about £8 a dose.

Pfizer is charging the US about £30 for a two-shot course. The UK has ordered 40 million Pfizer shots but none of the Moderna vaccine.

Moderna’s two-shot vaccine injects genetic material called mRNA into the body, which cells then use to churn out the spike protein the virus uses to invade cells.

The spike protein covers the surface of the virus and is one of the main targets of the body’s immune response to wipe out the infection.

A question mark that remains over the Pfizer vaccine is whether it prevents serious illness.

The Moderna results, released by an independent data safety monitoring board, are encouraging on this point. Of 11 participants who developed severe COVID while on the trial, all were in the placebo group. The results also suggest the vaccine is effective in older people and those from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Moderna’s interim analysis includes a safety review of data available so far.

The company said it had found no significant safety concerns, with most reactions being mild to moderate and short-lived.

Among the side effects reported is the injection site pain in 2.7 per cent of trial volunteers after the first jab.

After the second, the most significant side effects include fatigue in 9.7 per cent, muscle pain in nine per cent and joint pain in five per cent. Others had headaches; others pains, or redness at the injection site.

Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College, London, said the Moderna results were “tremendously exciting” and boosted optimism that a choice of good COVID vaccines would be available in the next few months.

 

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Tinubu Nominates Tegbe as Minister of Power, Seeks Senate Confirmation

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Tinubu Nominates Tegbe as Minister of Power, Seeks Senate Confirmation

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated Mr Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe as the new Minister of Power, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

The nomination, contained in a State House press release issued on Thursday, has been formally transmitted to the National Assembly in line with constitutional provisions requiring legislative screening and approval of ministerial appointments.

Mr Tegbe’s nomination follows the resignation of the former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who stepped down from office to pursue elective political ambitions.

According to the Presidency, the nominee is a seasoned fiscal and economic reform expert with more than 35 years of experience across both public and private sectors. He previously served as Senior Partner and Head of Advisory Services at KPMG Africa, where he led major initiatives in fiscal policy reform, institutional restructuring, and governance.

The statement also highlighted Tegbe’s advisory roles to key government institutions and private sector organisations, particularly in the areas of regulatory frameworks, strategic reforms, and investment structuring.

Currently, Tegbe serves as Director General and Global Liaison for the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), where he oversees efforts to deepen development cooperation between Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China. His role includes coordinating engagements with public sector stakeholders to advance economic and social development objectives aligned with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

In the power sector, Tegbe is said to have participated in several reform-driven engagements involving agencies such as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), focusing on regulatory and institutional improvements.

The Presidency expressed confidence that, if confirmed, Tegbe would strengthen ongoing efforts to reform Nigeria’s power sector, improve grid stability, and attract sustainable investment in line with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

President Tinubu also urged the minister-designate to deploy his extensive expertise toward delivering measurable improvements in electricity supply and overall sector performance for Nigerians.

Tinubu Nominates Tegbe as Minister of Power, Seeks Senate Confirmation

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Tinubu Orders Crackdown on Plateau Killers, Approves ₦2bn Relief Package

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Tinubu Orders Crackdown on Plateau Killers, Approves ₦2bn Relief Package

President Bola Tinubu has pledged to deploy the full instruments of federal authority against individuals and groups responsible for the recurring violence in Plateau State, warning that those identified as instigators or sponsors of unrest will face decisive government action.

The President made the declaration on Tuesday evening during a high-level meeting with Plateau State leaders and stakeholders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where he also approved a ₦2 billion humanitarian relief package for victims of the March 29 attack in Angwan Rukuba, Jos North Local Government Area.

The meeting, which lasted several hours and ended around 8 p.m., brought together Governor Caleb Mutfwang, all living former governors of Plateau State, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and political stakeholders, including the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.

According to the Presidency, Tinubu told the delegation that his administration would no longer tolerate cycles of violence, urging leaders in the state to take responsibility in identifying those fueling conflict.

“No protocols, no obstacles; we are here to speak our minds and find a permanent solution to a recurring conflict and chaos,” the President said.

He stressed that tolerance, unity, and accountability among leaders were essential to ending decades of recurring communal clashes in the state.

Tinubu also issued a strong directive to state authorities to identify individuals allegedly responsible for instigating violence, warning that they would face firm government action.

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“If you identify and you know the names of troublemakers, agents provocateurs who want to continue killing or instigate killing, let us know. We will use the instrument of office to deal with them,” he warned.

The President added that anyone found to be recruiting or inciting violence would face the full weight of federal power.

He further called for fairness, justice, and ethnic inclusiveness in governance, insisting that peace-building efforts must be rooted in equity and mutual respect among communities.

At the meeting, the Federal Government approved ₦2 billion in humanitarian assistance for victims of the March 29 attack in Angwan Rukuba, where over 27 people were reportedly killed in a violent assault on returning worshippers.

The funds, according to officials, will be used to support displaced families, rebuild damaged property, and provide emergency relief to affected communities through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.

The approval follows Tinubu’s earlier promise during his visit to Jos on April 2, shortly after the incident.

Tinubu reiterated his support for the establishment of state police, describing it as a necessary reform to address Plateau’s persistent security challenges.

He urged federal lawmakers present at the meeting to work toward constitutional backing for decentralized policing, arguing that local security structures would improve response times and enforcement.

The President also directed the newly constituted Plateau peace committee—made up of all living former governors of the state—to review existing white papers on past conflict resolutions and present consolidated recommendations.

He encouraged flexibility in restructuring previous peace frameworks, stressing that ineffective committees should be dissolved or merged for better results.

“Forget those committees you mentioned to me; if it’s not working, it’s not working. Consider this group as the committee until we find a lasting solution,” he said.

The Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, urged the Federal Government to strengthen security deployments in the state, noting that existing forces were overstretched and required better equipment and manpower.

He also reiterated the need for the promised installation of thousands of AI-enabled surveillance cameras across Plateau State to enhance monitoring and early warning systems.

Governor Caleb Mutfwang described the meeting as historic, noting that it was the first time all living former governors of Plateau State were gathered together in a unified peace initiative.

He pledged full cooperation with the Federal Government’s peace efforts and emphasized the need to rebuild trust across ethnic and religious divides.

Former Deputy Speaker Idris Wase also highlighted drug abuse as a growing driver of insecurity in the state, calling for stronger enforcement measures.

Tinubu concluded the meeting by urging stakeholders to prioritize unity, warning that continued violence would only deepen poverty and instability in the region.

He also proposed expanded inclusion of non-indigenous communities in governance structures as part of broader reconciliation efforts.

The President reaffirmed that his administration is committed to ending violence in Plateau State and across Nigeria, stressing that peace and stability remain central to national development.

Tinubu Orders Crackdown on Plateau Killers, Approves ₦2bn Relief Package

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Tinubu Appoints Bianca Ojukwu as Minister of Foreign Affairs

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Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu

Tinubu Appoints Bianca Ojukwu as Minister of Foreign Affairs

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu as Nigeria’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs following the resignation of Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, who reportedly stepped down to pursue political ambitions ahead of the 2027 elections.

The appointment places Ojukwu in charge of Nigeria’s external relations, diplomatic engagements, and international partnerships at a time the administration is intensifying efforts to reposition the country’s global image and strengthen economic diplomacy.

Until her latest appointment, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, where she was involved in Nigeria’s diplomatic outreach and regional engagement programmes.

Her elevation to the substantive ministerial role is seen as a continuation of her work within the foreign affairs ministry and a move to ensure continuity in Nigeria’s diplomatic policy direction.

In a related development, President Tinubu also nominated Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, pending confirmation by the Senate.

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Enikanolaiye, who hails from Kogi State, previously served as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and International Relations. He is a career diplomat with over 30 years of experience in Nigeria’s foreign service.

His extensive diplomatic background includes serving as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as postings in several Nigerian missions abroad, including Addis Ababa, Belgrade, Ottawa, London, and New Delhi.

The Presidency said the appointments are part of broader efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s foreign policy architecture, improve coordination in international engagements, and expand economic and strategic partnerships across key global regions.

President Tinubu congratulated both appointees and urged them to prioritise national interest, enhance economic diplomacy, support regional stability, and ensure the protection of Nigerians in the diaspora.

He further emphasised the need for a more proactive foreign policy approach that aligns with Nigeria’s economic growth agenda and global competitiveness objectives.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains central to Nigeria’s international relations, overseeing bilateral and multilateral engagements, consular services, and diplomatic missions worldwide.

Political analysts say the reshuffle signals a renewed focus by the Tinubu administration on strengthening diplomatic leadership and expanding Nigeria’s influence in global affairs.

Tinubu Appoints Bianca Ojukwu as Minister of Foreign Affairs

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