Category Archives: National Vanguard

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)Grants conditional emergency use of Antigen test kits, PPE, othersBy Joseph Erunke

ABUJATHE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control,NAFDAC, said yesterday it has not approved any vaccines for clinical trial for coronavirus disease in the country.

NAFDAC said approval for vaccines for clinical trial might not happen before one year to 18 months, after clinical trials must have been conducted in different countries.

According to the agency, this will be followed by rigorous in-country assessment, in line with laid down protocols to further ensure safety and efficacy.

But the agency in a statement by its Director General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said it had given what it called conditional emergency use approval of medical devices (COVID-19) antibody and antigen test kits, PPEs, etc. to companies.

The approved antigen test kids, the agency explained, could detect the COVID-19 antigen in patients with or without symptoms.

It also explained that the antibody test kits (IgG/IgM) could be used in COVID-19 confirmed individuals, who could then be tested at the designated centres using the antibody kits, to confirm that they had antibodies and as such might not be infected again.

The statement read: National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control grants conditional emergency use approval of medical devices (COVID-19 Antibody and Antigen Test Kits, PPEs, etc.)

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, pursuant to the powers conferred on it by section 5 of the NAFDAC Act, to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation distribution sale, use and advertisement of medical devices has taken some regulatory steps in the fight against COVID-19.

The pandemic has necessitated that NAFDAC put measures in place to ensure access to health commodities that have the potential to impact positively on public health outcomes.

These include, but are not limited to, diagnostics necessary to support public health infrastructure and guide the response necessary to combat and address the pandemic.

The antibody test kits (IgG/IgM) can be used in COVID-19 confirmed individuals, who can then be tested at the designated centers using the antibody kits, to confirm that they have antibodies and as such may not be infected again. The antigen tests kits on the other hand, can detect the COVID-19 antigen in patients with or without symptoms. The results are only qualitative (positive or negative.)

There has been a global effort by innovative diagnostic companies to develop test kits to aid in detection of the virus in patients to guide the management of the disease. The agency has recently received many requests for emergency use authorization for some of such diagnostic test kits to support national response.

NAFDAC has put in place regulatory measures to ensurequality, safety and efficacy criteria are assessed.

These measures are supported by documentation which include prior registration and approval by reference regulatory authorities, such as those of Japan USA, Germany, Canada, European Medicine Agency, etc.

Registration by the regulatory authority in the country of manufacture; declaration of conformity; and validation/performance evaluation /clinical evaluation report.

NAFDAC is part of the African Medical Devices Forum (AMDF), a Technical Working Group of African Medical Products Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH) that has a joint secretariat with WHO. Deliberations of the Forum that will be shared with the AMRH Steering Committee for approval and implementation, will further guide NAFDAC. Some of the technical issues that will come out of the deliberations include updates on the list of COVID-19 in vitro diagnostics and medical devices, substandard and falsified commodities and handling of donations.

NAFDAC will continue to stay abreast of current best global practices in this area and monitor updates to the WHO collated list of medical devices being used by different countries.

In addition to these requirements, the full approval of any diagnostic/test kit by NAFDAC for COVID-19 will be subject to in-country validation to assess the sensitivity or rate of failure (i.e., indication of false positives), and specificity.

Failure to comply could lead to revocation of any approval granted for importation of the products and forfeiture of same to the agency for destruction.

NAFDAC has reduced the registration to approval time from 120 working days to 10 days due to the pandemic. Thus far, the Agency has processed 17 applications using the expedited review process but has only granted emergency approval to seven companies using the criteria listed above.

The availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health care providers is a critical component of the effort to stem the pandemic. These PPEs include gloves, protective goggles, face shields, protective gowns and masks in the form of particulate respirators and surgical masks. These must meet certain technical requirements and specifications to achieve the objective and offer some measure of protection to healthcare providers and limit their exposure to infection.

Please note, no vaccines have been approved for any clinical trial. That may not happen before one year to eighteen months, after clinical trials must have been conducted in different countries. This will be followed by rigorous in-country assessment in line with laid down protocols to further ensure safety and efficacy.

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COVID-19: We have not approved any vaccines for clinical trial NAFDAC - Vanguard

Nigerian nurses and midwives want employment of professionals

The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Kwara Chapter, has warned members to desist from being used to launch political attacks against Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of the state.

Alhaji Shehu Aminu, the state Chairman of the association, gave the warning in a statement made available to newsmen in Ilorin on Friday.

He explained that the association disassociated itself from any politically motivated protest by some of its members and threatened to sanction any member who violate public service rules.

According to him, the government has committed so much resources to the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

Aminu urged citizens to avoid any action that might dampen the spirit of the governor, whom he said is doing so much to turn around the fortunes of the state.

The associations position comes on the backdrop of mounting public criticisms against the protest and the video footage which many dismissed as political and insensitive at this time of a global pandemic.

The attention of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Kwara State branch, has been drawn to the news just gone viral of the purported nonchalant attitude of the state government to the plight of nurses working in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

We wish to state equivocally that this association dissociates itself from this falsehood while commending the Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led administration for the dogged commitment, efforts and huge financial resources that has gone into this fight against this global pandemic.

We assure all members of the continued concern of the administration for the welfare and protection of our members which was explicitly expressed by the governor, he said.

Aminu explained that all the requests tabled by the association before the government has received the desired attention.

He observed that members of the association are as concerned as everyone in this fight and will not in any way allow any politically motivated agitation to dampen the morale of the governor in his concerted efforts to bring the fiery situation under control.

All members of the Association are hereby enjoined to continue to do their best and play their role in this fight, the statement read in part.

He therefore warned that any officer or member found wanting will be dealt with appropriately according to the public service provisions.

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Covid 19: NANNM warn members against politically motivated agitations - Vanguard

COLUMBUS

When public health experts sounded the alarm on coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine listened and started to move aggressively, even before Ohio had its first confirmed case.

Well before other governors or big city mayors, DeWine asked colleges and universities to suspend in-person classes, closed K-12 schools, shut down bars and restaurants to dine-in customers and put a limit on mass gatherings.

Other states soon followed Ohios example.

DeWine, 73, has spent five decades in public offices and has made decisions and directed the state to take action often two or three steps ahead of the rest of the country.

RELATED:DeWines first year in office: You can tell hes loving being governor

There are two reasons why. No. 1, his focus has long been on health and safety of families and children, which made a looming pandemic something he was inclined early to focus on and attempt to address. No. 2, he is being given significant credit for taking counsel from Dr. Amy Acton, whom he appointed in February, 2019, to lead the 1,100-employee Ohio Department of Health.

I think its because of Amy. I think hes the type of leader and I related to this you hire really good people and you trust them, said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat. She added, That still takes leadership, its still really hard. You come out on Sunday night and close all the bars, thats really hard.

RELATED:Who is Dr. Amy Acton?

Clearly our governor has been in the vanguard of state leaders across the U.S. on this issue, said Greg Robinson, a Republican running for Ohio Senate. Gov. DeWine has had a long career in public service, and one defining quality of good public servants is their ability to listen to others and take advice. He appears to be doing just that, for the benefit of Ohioans.

Meryl Justin Chertoff, director of the Georgetown Project on State & Local Government Policy and Law, said Dr. Acton is Ohios version of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infetious Diseases.

He added: Gov. DeWine himself is handling this extremely well. Besides relying on expert advice, he is using facts to make his case, he is not politicizing the crisis, and he is reaching across the aisle. As a former U.S. Senator, he also understands the limits of what federal government can do in an emergency like this, and how important it is for governors to step up.

DETAILS:Second resident of Koester Pavilion dies, awaiting coronavirus test results

Each day, DeWine, Acton, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and a constellation of guests have held press briefings at the Ohio Statehouse. They have often unloaded bombshells of news: closing schools, shutting bars, banning mass gatherings. The briefings are in-depth often lasting 90 minutes so that they can explain their rationale, the ever-evolving facts, and pandemic control methods. And the speakers repeatedly express empathy and understanding that many of their decisions will be brutal on Ohio families and the economy.

The briefings are carried live on public radio and TV stations as well as live-streamed on OhioChannel.org. The briefings have racked up more than 125,000 views on OhioChannel alone. C-SPAN, the national broadcaster that typically focuses on the federal government, asked to start carrying them live.

MORE COVERAGE:Coronavirus puts strain on homeless system, officials say

Whaley said DeWine has a clear understanding of what levers in government he can pull to blunt the impact of the pandemic in Ohio. She praised him for using his authority. The one place where it got really messy is where he didnt have authority. And that was the election.

Up until March 16, DeWine, Acton and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose urged voters to cast their ballots absentee or in-person on March 17. LaRose made a plea for new poll workers to step up, expecting that many of the 35,000 workers often people in their 60s, 70s and 80s would drop out. Boards of Elections dispatched kits with latex finger covers, gloves, alcohol wipes and other supplies to polling place managers to disinfect voting equipment.

But advice from the Centers for Disease Control shifted, suggesting the mass gathering threshold drop to 50.

Less than 24 hours before the polls were to open LaRose and DeWine pivoted, recommending that in-person voting be suspended until June 2 and absentee by mail voting be continued until then. They said in the press conference in which they announced their recommendations that they didnt have the authority to change the primary date. But when a lawsuit was hastily filed to request an injunction on in-person voting, a Franklin County judge later that night rejected it. That led Acton to use Ohio public heath law to issue an order to shut down the states 3,650 polling locations.

FRANKS TAKE: Neighborhood kids are getting creative with their time

The abrupt shutdown triggered a slew of lawsuits and protests. The Ohio Democratic Party filed suit in the Ohio Supreme Court against LaRose, who issued a directive setting June 2 as the new primary date. Voting rights groups are demanding that the registration deadline be extended. And legislators are expected to meet this week to determine the next steps on the primary election.

DeWines actions are being contrasted by national commentators with some of the statements by President Trump in the early stages of the outbreak. In early March, President Trump downplayed the seriousness of the virus at the same time DeWine and Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther ordered that the popular Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus be closed to spectators.

RELATED:Mike DeWine ran governor race on his long experience and track record

Acton has said that on the front end of a pandemic, public health experts look like alarmists and on the back end theyre criticized for not doing enough.

Acton, a former assistant professor of public health at Ohio State University, strikes a balance between medical expert and relatable friend as she breaks down the pandemic curve, the coming surge of cases, the push to collect all available personal protective equipment. She offers a dose of hope at every briefing, assuring Ohioans that well get through this together.

Husted, the former Dayton Chamber of Commerce executive, has been calling banks and credit unions and other business leaders, assuring Ohioans that the food supply chain is strong, and working to shore up the unemployment compensation system. He also urged employers to send home sick workers and step up disinfection efforts.

This can be done right and employers need to own this and take the responsibility for it so that we dont have to take further actions. If people act responsibly, if employers act responsibly and their employees follow that guidance, we will get through this healthier and more economically sound, Husted said at a recent briefing.

Coronavirus: Grocery store workers hit hard

Still, the decisions to close businesses and restrict gatherings isnt supported by all.

I dont have access to all the same health information that all the government officials do but it does seem to me that we need to balance the other risks to peoples lives, such as shutting down the economy, causing people to lose their jobs and their health care, not be able to maintain their housing or feed their children, all of which will endanger peoples lives, said Democrat Richard Cordray, who lost the 2018 gubernatorial race to DeWine.

OSU College of Public Health Dean Amy Fairchild said DeWine is trusting the advice from medical, scientific and public health experts.

Hes embracing the science. He is listening to somebody who is telling him hard truths in the face of uncertainty, who is helping him navigate the situation and helping him react every single day, she said. Fairchild described Acton as someone who has the communication skills and intellectual and scientific punch to direct the Ohio Department of Health.

DeWine praised Acton for her background a medical degree with residencies in preventative medicine and pediatrics as well as a masters in public health and her ability to explain complex public health issues in plain language.

DeWine said this week that he believes an outcome of this pandemic will be a renewed emphasis on public health.

Ive felt for a long time that we have not paid enough attention to public health. When I look at the problems that we face in Ohio, so many of the challenges that we face have to do with health issues. So I think its going to make us look really hard at that, he said.

He also predicts that there will be a national assessment on what America needs to be able to produce without relying on other countries, including medical gear and personal protective equipment.

Acton predicted that the pandemic will bring a baby boom beginning nine months from now and longer term, the country will see a decrease in common infectious diseases as protocols are improved.

Public health is so vitally important. We go through these cycles through history with this field. Ive always talked about how the fact that we live 30 years longeralmost two-thirds of that came from this vast field we call public health and its an evolving field. The epidemics we face today are things like suicide and opiate addiction, Acton said.

The field is evolving and shows how everyone is interconnected.

We have to face the fact that human and economic development are inextricably linked. They just are. When we doing the kind of policy making that we are doing now, its like every single thing is inter-related. That is a profound thing, she said.

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Coronavirus: DeWine in the vanguard of state leaders across the U.S. - Dayton Daily News

Food banks are seeing a shortage in volunteers and experiencing greater need due to COVID-19

Gov. Newsom: Its in these times of crisis that Californians are at their best, coming to the aid of those in their community who are most in need. I ask all Californians who are able to join our Neighbor-to-Neighbor campaign to safely assist those in need in your community.

(From press release) SACRAMENTO California Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the deployment of California National Guard members to provide short-term food security to isolated and vulnerable Californians. Building on Governor Newsoms prioritization of protecting the most vulnerable from the COVID-19 pandemic, the short deployment will help to stabilize the immediate need of food banks.

Its in these times of crisis that Californians are at their best, coming to the aid of those in their community who are most in need. Food banks provide a critical lifeline for families, and are needed now more than ever. Families across our state are suddenly losing work, and millions of Californians most vulnerable to COVID-19 are staying home to protect their health and the health of others. I ask all Californians who are able to join our Neighbor-to-Neighbor campaign to safely assist those in need in your community.

The Neighbor-to-Neighbor campaign is a testament to the strength of our larger California community, said First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Now more than ever we must create a culture of WE over me. I am so proud that Californians across the state stand ready to meet this moment by embracing our California values of inclusivity, generosity and community.

Due to COVID-19, many food banks have been affected by a significant decline in volunteerism, impacting logistical and local infrastructure for food distribution.The California Guard will initially deploy personnel and logistical equipment to a food bank distribution warehouse in Sacramento County starting today, and will conduct immediate site assessments statewide for those counties that have requested short-term support and stabilization. This short-term assistance from the California National Guard allows time to mobilize AmeriCorps, California Conservation Corps and Local Conservation Corps members, and other volunteers where counties have identified serious gaps.

The Administrations food deployment strategyalso launches the Neighbor-to-Neighbor campaign, which calls on neighbors to be first line of support for Californias most vulnerable residents who have been advised to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Neighbor-to-Neighbor campaign is focused on older adults and promotes ways to safely check on your neighbors, family and friends, and will be run by California Volunteers, the state office tasked with engaging Californians in service, volunteering and civic action.

The Administration is partnering with the social networking service Nextdoor to provide valuable information to California communities about the states response to COVID-19. The collaboration will allow the state to reach more than 22,000 neighborhoods using the platform. Neighbors use Nextdoor to exchange helpful information and California Volunteers will use this site to share ways residents can safely check on each other during the COVID-19 outbreak. The platform will also be used to share ways to safely ensure community members have the basic necessities they may need during periods of home isolation.

The State of California has also released information to promote resources and options for those facing food insecurity. A resource list will be posted to serve.ca.gov on ways Californians can support vulnerable members of our community that may have limited food resources, in ways that are in line with CDPH guidelines.

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National Guard Deployed to Help Distribute Food and Protect Vulnerable - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

One of Americas largest police forces says its drastically reducing the number of people it arrests during the coronavirus pandemic.

By Jerry Lannelli

The Miami-Dade County Police Department, one of the 10 largest law enforcement agencies in the U.S., has instructed its officers to issue promises to appear and civil citations for all misdemeanor crimes during the COVID-19 outbreak barring exigent circumstances requiring an arrest, a spokesperson confirmed to The Appeal.

The departments direction is the utilization of Promise To Appear (PTA) and Civil Citations for misdemeanor crimes unless exigent circumstances require a physical arrest, department spokesperson Alvaro Zabaleta wrote in an email. This doesnt mean we are going to stop doing police work, we just have to prioritize our strategies given the affect [sic] this virus has on the entire criminal justice system; e.g., jails, courts etc., and the wellbeing of the officers.

The announcement comes after the Miami Herald reported today that at least 13 officers and three civilian aides from the City of Miami Police Department were sent home to self-quarantine after exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

Other police departments in Floridaespecially the other 34 police departments within Miami-Dade County aloneare likely to follow suit in the coming days or hours. Spokespersons for the City of Miami and Miami Beach Police Departments did not immediately respond to messages from The Appeal this afternoon.

As Floridaand South Florida in particularemerges as a national hotspot for COVID-19, civil-rights organizations are pressuring local police departments and prosecutors to reduce their jail populations. In an open letter last week, at least 18 civil-rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, demanded that Miami-Dade County take drastic measures to reduce its jail population before COVID-19 spreads through the jail system.

During this pandemic, incarcerated people are at increased risk of exposure and death, the letter stated. The unsanitary and dangerous living conditions in our jails make them a petri dish for viral infection, and neither the jails nor the county hospital [has] the capacity to handle such a large outbreak.

The Herald has since reported that jail bookings are slightly down from county averages in the last week. (In the Tampa area, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister released 164 people from his county jail Thursday to hopefully slow the viruss spread.)

Via email, Zabaleta, the Miami police spokesperson, said the departments directives are in place indefinitely until further notice.

With the ongoing challenges we are facing due to the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), we must continually adapt, Zabaleta wrote. Therefore, we must remain flexible as the departmental directives may change. We hope our county returns to its normality soon.

Originally published by the Appeal.

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Dade Police Switch to Citations Rather than Arrests For Misdemeanors - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

Goal Is to Develop New Reagents, Tests, Vaccines and Treatments

By Andy Fell

Clinical pathologists, infectious disease physicians and scientists at the UC Davis Medical Center,California National Primate Research CenterandCenter for Immunology and Infectious Diseasesare collaborating on new reagents, diagnostic tests and a vaccine for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Their goal is to unravel the biology and infectious pathology of this new virus, and to develop means for prevention and ultimately treatment.

The team began by isolating, characterizing and culturing coronavirus from a patient treated at UC Davis, the first community-acquired case in the U.S., with the goal of making diagnostic tests in-house. These tests will make use of UC Davis existing infrastructure for high-capacity clinical laboratory testing. Widespread testing is crucial to unravel the true prevalence, lethality and contagiousness of COVID-19. Genetic differences between the UC Davis coronavirus isolate and those from other countries or parts of the U.S. may give clues about how the virus has spread.

Culturing the virus in the laboratory will allow researchers to investigate the basic biology of coronavirus how it attacks and invades cells, and what treatments might work against it.

The UC Davis researchers were able to quickly launch their coronavirus research program because of the existing strong relationships between the School of Medicine, the CIID and the primate center, where researchers study HIV/AIDS, Zika and other infectious diseases.

We knew who to call when the time came it was our colleagues and partners at the CIID and CNPRC, said Nam Tran, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and senior director of clinical pathology, in charge of the SARS-CoV-2 testing at UC Davis Health. The UC Davis Clinical Laboratory will be deploying such tests soon, while at the same time developing high-throughput assays to meet the growing demand in the community. The high-throughput tests can perform up to 1,400 tests per day. Collaboration with the CIID and primate center is crucial to accelerate test validation required by the United States Food and Drug Administration, Tran said.

Nonhuman primate model

The UC Davis researchers also plan to develop a model of coronavirus infection in nonhuman primates. Researchers in China have already shown that COVID-19 will infect rhesus macaques, said Chris Miller, an infectious disease scientist at the primate center and professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and CIID. This animal model could be used to develop and test potential treatments and vaccines, Miller said.

Among other objectives, the researchers plan to use the nonhuman primate model to look at how age influences the course of COVID-19 disease. So far, it appears that the infection is generally mild in children and younger people and most serious in people over 60, but it is not clear why.

Nonhuman primates are a uniquely powerful model for investigating human disease, said Professor John Morrison, director of the primate center. The coronavirus pandemic shows the need for significant investment in the national primate research centers so that they can build collaborations and be ready for such outbreaks, he said.

Teamwork essential

All work with coronaviruses has to be conducted in biosafety level 3 (BSL3) facilities, requiring special precautions. The investigators obtained regulatory approvals from the institutional ethical and biosafety committees, a complex and sometimes lengthy procedure.

Given the clinical significance and global importance of these projects, emergency committee meetings were called and experts worked over time to assure safety and full compliance with CDC guidelines and all regulatory requirements in a record turnaround time, said Angela Haczku, associate dean for translational research at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

The researchers have applied for supplemental grant funding from the NIH to support their work. But they are not waiting for federal funds to be awarded. UC Davis is using internal campus and primate center funds to get the work underway.

Originally published in the UC Davis news

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UC Davis Researchers Race to Develop Coronavirus Solutions - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

Last week several states went to the polls, but with reduced voting turnoutand five other states have postponed their elections until June. The reality is that, while the November election seems like a long way away, November is not very far off.

Increasingly, this is being viewed as a long-term threat. At best, a vaccine is seen as 12 to more likely 18 months away.

As Dr. Tom Frieden, who formerly headed the CDC, put it, The Covid-19 pandemic will change our world forever. Until it is controlled, we will all need to change how we wash our hands, cover our coughs, greet others and how close we come to others. We will rethink the need for meetings and conferences. We will need broadband for all as a public utility like mail or water. We will need to support the vulnerable, even if only because their illness can risk our health.

As the Atlantic put it: From a public-health standard, the pandemic will not end for another 18 months. The only complete resolutiona vaccinecould be at least that far away.

Until then, we will be vulnerable to subsequent waves of the new coronavirus even if the current wave happens to ebb.

This year happens to be an election year. While they could postpone state primary elections until June, they cannot postpone the November general election, which is mandated by the Constitution.

We are already likely to see huge changes. Gone will be large campaign rallies. Gone too will likely be the party conventions. We will see a lot more in the way of online and virtualcampaigning.

But that only addresses the issue of the campaignnot the election itself.

While states understandably were caught flat-footed in the face of the threat, with eight months to prepare, the US government should not be.

There is a simple answer, one that frankly we should have started to implement many years agoshift from in-person voting to mail-in ballots. We have seen several states including Oregon do it, and we have had our own all-mail ballot elections here in Yolo County for special elections without large issues.

Interestingly enough, while this column has been in preparation for several days now, the NY Times Editorial Board has issued a similar recommendation to go to all-mail elections.

They note: It is almost certain that the 2020 election wont look like any weve seen before.

There will be unprecedented challenges to a nationwide vote during a time when there is a need to keep people physically separated.

The Times believes: The most practical fix is to make voting by mail a clear and free option for every eligible voter in the country.

They note the good news is that five states already have all or most of their voters vote by mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Moreover, in 2016, nearly one-quarter of all voters cast ballots by mail.

The US election system is rather unique. We dont actually have a national election. We have a national election day. Instead, voting occurs in local voting booths, tabulated by local counties, and cumulated by the states to determine electors.

That means that such changes would have to occur at the county level, but coordinated by state and federal government.

The Times points out that there are a number of advantages to voting by mail.

First is turnout is significantly higher nearly everywhere voting by mail is used.

That is not a huge surprise. It is easier to vote and drop a ballot in the mail than to drive to a polling place, wait in line, and vote.

Second, they note that voters of all political persuasions use it and like it.

Third and interestingly enough, because locally people like Bob Dunning have complained about the potential for fraud, its safe and secure. Bar codes allow for ballot tracking and validation.

They continue, saying that states that use vote-by-mail have encountered essentially zero fraud: Oregon, the pioneer in this area, has sent out more than 100 million mail-in ballots since 2000, and has documented only about a dozen cases of proven fraud.

There is a lot of work to do, however, to pull it off at a national level. They note: In 2018, 31 states had fewer than 15 percent of their ballots cast by mail. Switching to all or nearly all voting by mail will require printing at least 70 million additional ballots.

They point out: These ballots will have to be ready to go out by Labor Day, less than six months from today. They must be postage-paid, so that no one has to pay a penny to vote, and there need to be enough machines and poll workers available to start counting ballots as soon as they come in. Signature-matching software can help ensure ballots are coming from the voters they were sent to, without introducing partisan bias into the process. And where signatures dont match, voters should have an opportunity to fix the problem and cast a provisional ballot if necessary.

This would not be free. It would cost an estimated $2 billion, according to a report released this week by the Brennan Center for Justice.

But while that sounds like a lot, given the $1 trillion stimulus plan Congress is considering, it seems like an easy solution to what could otherwise be a vexing problem.

And if it works, maybe this becomes the new normin a good way. It is long past time to modernize our voting. In fact, it was just a year ago we asked whether we should do this locally.

Analysis: Should We Look At Going to All-Mail Elections?

David M. Greenwald reporting

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Sunday Commentary: We Have Time to Put All-Mail Ballot in Place for November - The Peoples Vanguard of Davis

The announcement in Texas on Monday sent abortion rights advocates and their lawyers racing to determine how likely it was that clinics would need to stop abortion services.

We are still waiting for various legal teams and local providers to work through what it means, said the Very Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, president of the National Abortion Federation.

Texas has a history of being on the vanguard of reducing abortion access. The last major Supreme Court decision on abortion, in 2016, involved a restrictive law in Texas. But it was still not clear on Monday night whether the states abortion clinics would stop providing services. Some seemed determined to continue.

Patients cannot wait until this pandemic is over to receive safe abortion care, Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Womans Health, the abortion clinic at the center of the Supreme Court decision, said in a statement.

In Ohio, where anti-abortion activists have gained influence in recent years, health authorities issued an order to postpone all nonessential surgeries beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday. On Friday and Saturday, the office of the states attorney general sent warning letters to abortion clinics in Dayton, Cincinnati and Cleveland, telling them to immediately stop performing nonessential and elective surgical abortions.

A spokeswoman for the attorney generals office, Bethany McCorkle, said the letters were based on complaints that had come to Ohios Department of Health. At least one came from Ohio Right to Life, an anti-abortion advocacy group, said its president, Michael Gonidakis.

In an email blast to supporters on Saturday, Mr. Gonidakis said he had sent a letter to Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, warning its president, Iris E. Harvey, that by performing surgical abortions, your company is putting the health and safety of all Ohioans in danger.

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Texas and Ohio Include Abortion as Medical Procedures That Must Be Delayed - The New York Times

By Obadiah Mailafia

IAM delighted to be guest speaker at this colloquium to celebrate the 50th birthday of the Honourable Kudla Satumari and the great humanitarian work he has been doing with his Haske Foundation. The people of his native southern Borno have suffered a harrowing tragedy from the murderous insurgency that is looking more and more like a genocide. It is becoming crystal clear that Christian communities in the North are the principal targets of the Jihad being waged by Boko Haram and the herdsmen of the apocalypse. It is a fact that our dishonest and jaundiced power elites prefer not to acknowledge.

Our brother Kudla has lost 19 members of his own blood relations in the conflagration. And yet, I see a man with a forgiving heart; a champion of peace a true lover of humanity. He has made a great success of his aviation business. But he has never allowed success to go into his head. Instead, his greatest hunger is to win souls for the Lord and to touch lives in a positive way. He has used his personal resources to help the downtrodden among his people.

I prophesy a great destiny for this hero of our time! According to my dictionary, destiny is a noun referring to what happens to someone or what will happen to them in the future, especially things that they cannot change or avoid. Destiny is thought to be synonymous with fate or a mans portion in life. It implies, according to Merriam-Webster, something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end.

Many of our traditional cultures believe that every human being has his or her own unique path in life. The ancient Greeks often consulted the Oracle of Delphi to know what destiny held in store for them. Among the Yoruba, the oracles of Ifa are central to the making of kingship and to shaping decision-making among the rulers. At one extreme are the Christian Calvinists who believe in pre-destination in the community of the elect that are predestined for salvation; at the other are the existentialist philosophers such as Soren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus who believe that man is the sole architect of his own destiny.

The post-war French existentialist thinkers were, of course, anti-religious in temperament; belonging to a long tradition of French anti-clericalism that goes back to the 18th-century Enlightenment from Rousseau and Voltaire up to the leaders of the 1789 French Revolution. Nelson Mandela was apparently a believer in this concept of self-determination. His favourite poem while imprisoned in Robben Island was said to be Invictus, by the Victorian English poet William Ernest Henley: Out of the night that covers me, / Black as the pit from pole to pole, / I thank whatever gods may be / For my unconquerable soul. / It matters not how strait the gate, / How charged with punishments the scroll, / I am the master of my fate, / I am the captain of my soul.

None of us chose the circumstances of our birth. We had no choice about our parentage, religion, community and even the country into which we were born. But it is also clear that life is ultimately what we make of it. Man is a creature of choice. We are born with conscience and with a sense of moral responsibility. The greatest tragedy that can befall a young man or woman is to go through this life without having discovered their life-purpose or vocation. And happy is the young man or woman who knows early enough what they were born to do.

When a person discovers early enough his or her life-purpose, nothing can keep him down. The Renaissance Italian artist and genius Leonardo da Vinci was the illegitimate child of a Florentine nobleman who never acknowledged his son. He never went to school because of his illegitimate status. But nothing could stop him.

Through communing with nature and the sheer power of his imagination Leonardo became a universal genius. His paintings and sculptures are immortal and priceless. His engineering designs prefigured modern aviation and aerospace engineering. He is arguably the greatest genius who ever lived. There is a noble line of men and women who overcame seemingly impossible odds to fulfil their life-purpose and destiny. They are the heroes and heroines of civillisation. Without their courage, our world would be a much poorer place. Like human beings, every nation has a destiny under the earth. The French have always defined their place in the world as custodians of the universal values of civilisation.

I went to school there and I should know. It is only in France that the greatest scientists and intellectuals are arrogated the same status as royalty. In the 1960s, so the story goes, the great philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre was arrested by the police around the Quartier Latin district of Paris for driving under the influence. The law required that he spend some days in prison. President Charles de Gaulle, however, invoked his own right to exercise the prerogative of mercy. He gave the reprieve in full glare of national television. Sartre, he declared, is France. And France could not, under any stretch of the imagination, be imprisoned. Case closed!

Britain has always prided herself in being the mother of liberty. Magna Carta is the writ that enshrined the constitutional principle of the supremacy of parliament and representative democracy. Only in Britain could an English judge such as Lord Mansfield declare, as in the famous case of Somerset v Stewart (1772), that every slave who sets his foot on English soil is a free man. Britain defines herself as the Land of Hope and Glory.

Brexit has entered the modern political lexicon today because the British voted to leave Europe. At the heart of this historic decision is the conviction that British liberties are non-negotiable and cannot be usurped by a supranational body, however enlightened. Nowhere has this sense of manifest destiny been so deeply rooted in the national psyche as in the United States.

There is no denying that many of the Founding Fathers were slave-owners. And yet, they crafted a Declaration of Independence that is timeless in its universal appeal: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness; That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Race, unfortunately, remains an enduring blot on the American character. And yet, America managed to elect a Black man, Barack Obama, as its president. The American Dream resonates among all its inhabitants as the quintessential land of infinite opportunities for all peoples and races. Because of its commitment to the rule of law, liberty of thought and respect for property rights, however, American grandeur will endure. America will remain unsurpassed in the dominant fields that matter: science and technology, inventiveness, creativity and sheer entrepreneurial energy.

Does Nigeria have a destiny? What are our national ideals and collective purpose as we enter the second decade of our twenty-first century?

VANGUARD

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A destiny among the nations (1) - Vanguard

Three months into the novel coronavirus pandemic, its still unclear which drugs could combat the viral disease and which wont, despite public figures like President Donald Trump extolling the unproven promise of some medications. With public health on the line, the scientific community is searching for answers faster than ever.

When the novel coronavirus tore through China in January and February, researchers and doctors quickly launched dozens of clinical trials to test existing medications against COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But the research done so far in China hasnt generated enough data for conclusive answers.

We commend the researchers around the world who have come together to systemically evaluate experimental therapeutics, said Tedros Adhanom, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), in a press briefing. Multiple small trials with different methodologies may not give us the clear, strong evidence we need about which treatments help to save lives.

In their fight for clear, strong evidence, the WHO is launching a multicountry clinical trial to test four drug regimens as COIVD-19 therapies: an experimental antiviral drug called remdesivir, the antimalarial drug chloroquine (or the related hydroxychloroquine), a combination of two HIV drugs, and those same two HIV drugs along with the anti-inflammatory interferon beta.

The trial will be flexible and could add or drop additional treatment approaches or locations over time. In that way, it appears to be similar to the adaptive trial that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases started in the US in February, which initially set out to test remdesivir but could expand to other drugs. The US is not currently involved in the WHO trial.

Hundreds of other clinical trials are underway, and other groups also continue to test the medications that the WHO selected heres a breakdown of some of the drugs that researchers are zeroing in on.

Studies found that hydroxychloroquine and the related chloroquine can stop the novel coronavirus from infecting in cells in the lab, and anecdotal evidence suggests that it may help patients with COVID-19. Because the drug has been around for decades as an antimalarial treatment, scientists have experience with it.

Its a known medicine, says Caleb Skipper, an infectious disease postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota whos working on a smaller trial of the drug. Little blips of lab data over the last several years show this drug has activity against viruses.

Skippers trial is looking to see if hydroxychloroquine can prevent people who are exposed to the virus from developing severe disease. Theyre hoping to recruit health care workers, who are at a high risk of exposure to the virus, to participate in the trial.

The goal, Skipper says, is to get the drug in peoples systems early. Particularly with viruses, the earlier you inhibit their ability to replicate the better off youre going to be. If a drug is going to work, it is more likely to work early on in disease, he says. If you catch someone really early and provide treatment early virus will have replicated a lot less.

The existing evidence on hydroxychloroquine points in the right direction, Skipper says, but all of the research on the drug is still in very early stages. Its a long ways from being proven effective, he says.

Despite the limited evidence available, public figures, including Elon Musk and Trump, are pushing the message that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are the solutions to the outbreaks. I feel good about it. Thats all it is, just a feeling, you know, smart guy. I feel good about it, Trump said in a press conference on Friday.

As a result of the hype, demand for the drug has spiked, and manufacturers are increasing production. In Nigeria, two people overdosed on the medication after Trump said it could cure COVID-19. People who take it for other conditions, like lupus, are struggling to access their usual supply.

To be very clear, there is still no conclusive evidence that chloroquine will treat COVID-19. And treatments that appear promising based on anecdotal reports or feelings often dont end up working, which scientists know well: the majority of clinical trials fail, and theyre seeing that reinforced in coronavirus treatment efforts.

In February, doctors in Thailand said they saw their COVID-19 patients improve on the combination of two HIV drugs, lopinavir-ritonavir. The WHO is testing the drug combination in their trial, along with anti-inflammatory interferon beta, which the body produces naturally to ward off viruses. The drug combination was used in patients during the SARS and MERS outbreaks, and it appeared to help.

But a clinical trial of those two drugs in China just found that patients with COVID-19 who were given the drugs did not improve more quickly than patients who didnt receive it.

The study, which was published this week, focused on a group of 199 severely ill patients, which may be why the drug wasnt effective the patients were already too sick. But Timothy Sheahan, a coronavirus expert and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, says he wasnt surprised the drug didnt work. Weve done work on that particular drug cocktail, he says. The fact it failed is totally in step with everything weve done in the past.

The antiviral drug remdesivir was first developed to treat Ebola, but research later showed that it could also block MERS and SARS in cells. Lab tests have shown that it can inhibit the novel coronavirus in cells as well.

Theres also anecdotal evidence that remdesivir helps treat COVID-19 patients, but thats also no guarantee that a clinical trial will show that it works better than a placebo. Thats why the data collected on the drug through the WHO trial, the US adaptive trial, and the other studies is so important: before giving it to sick people en mass, doctors have to be sure that it actually works.

Though not a part of the WHO trial, Chinese officials also reported that the Japanese anti-flu drug favipiravir, which it tested in clinical trials, was effective in treating COVID-19 patients. Japan is studying the drug more closely, though data from those trials on the drug has not yet been published.

Based on the drugs antiviral activity in cells, Sheahan says hed be surprised if this drug ultimately ended up being effective. It doesnt work against MERS in cells, he says, and MERS is similar to the novel coronavirus.

In addition, some pharmaceutical companies are looking to repurpose anti-inflammatory drugs to try to calm lung inflammation in people with severe cases of COIVD-19; others are identifying the protective antibodies that people develop after theyre infected with the virus in an effort to manufacture a treatment.

Clinical trials take time to collect data properly, so there likely wont be concrete evidence until next month or later. Patients are already receiving these drugs through compassionate use programs, which allows doctors to order experimental medications in certain cases, and under off-label use, where doctors prescribe drugs outside of what theyre approved for.

But ensuring the clinical trial process takes place alongside that, before jumping to conclusions about the best course of action, ensures patients can be treated based on evidence.

The sheer number of trials going on around the world for each particular treatment approach will give researchers more data to work with and data from different groups of people. The more populations you can show a particular intervention works or does not work for, the more valuable that is, Skipper says. The bigger the amount of data available, the better.

The Verge

Vanguard

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