Coronavirus diary ( 45)

IN the last installment, I indicated I would address non- vaccine cures for COVID- 19. It is precisely the subject of this part. The point should be made abinitio that alternative cure is an area where developing countries with the political will to do so could blaze the trail. Given the large ecology of medicinal plants, the cure for COVID- 19 lurks somewhere behind the silhouettes of plants. The emergence of new strains that might prove stubborn to be cured by what the vaccine researchers have put out underscores the importance of non- vaccine alternatives to curing COVID- 19.

Vaccine producers, such as Moderna are already broaching the matter of tweaking the vaccines to take care of new strains. For example, Nigeria, a developing country estimates nearly a billion naira for the purchase of vaccines. If it were to deploy that amount to alternative cures, the result would be outstanding. Given the poor state of the country’s infrastructure, Bill Gates, the vaccine enthusiast, has recently adviced the country to invest more in medical infrastructure instead of vaccines. Tell it to the marines. The country and its elite have joined the vaccine binge. However, researchers are already in the race for non- vaccine cures of COVID- 19. According to a report by Deena Beasley of Reuters, Drugmaker Merck & Co, has put a stop to the production of the vaccine candidate V590 and V591, the former a product of collaboration with the nonprofit research organization IAVI, and the latter acquired through the purchase of Austrian vaccine maker , Themis Bioscience. The reason for its action was the failure of the vaccine’s immune responses that were lower than those seen in people who had recovered from COVID- 19 as well as those reported for other COVID- 19 vaccines in early trials. The good news is that Merck is turning to oral antiviral alternatives. The new focus is the trial medicines, namely , MK- 7110 and MK- 4482 that the company calls molnupiravir. Molnupiravir, which is being developed in collaboration with Ridgeback Bio, is an oral antiviral being studied in both hospital and outpatient settings. The MK- 7110 is an immune modulator and the company hopes to make public clinically meaningful outcomes. In another report put together by the Healthline Editorial Team on October 27, 2020, and fact- checked by Dana K. Cassell, studies have revealed a link between vitamin D and COVID- 19 leading to a conviction that it might help combat the virus. This is coming on the heels of findings of a new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that examined about 216 people with COVID- 19 and found inadequate vitamin D in the blood over 80 percent. People who had both COVID- 19 and lower vitamin D levels also had a higher number of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D- dimer, associated with poor COVID- 19 outcomes. Besides, they stay longer in convalescence from COVID- 19 in the hospital. Again, another small study he did, Dr. Michael F.

Holick, who has researched vitamin D and leads the Bone Health Care Clinic at Boston University, observed that COVID19 patients who had adequate vitamin D levels had a lower risk of dying from the disease as well as lower susceptibility to complications therefrom.

Ivermectin seems to be one drug that is being ‘ repurposed’ as COVID- 19 treatments. Ivermectin is the active ingredient in medicines that treat human and animal diseases caused by parasites such as mites, lice, and nematode worms. It has been available for these conditions for many decades. Ivermectin is not commonly used to treat head lice in Australia but other countries, including the United States. What does this have to do with COVID- 19? In April 2020 Australian researchers published results from a laboratory experiment showing ivermectin could stop the SARS- COV- 2 virus from multiplying in animal cells, especially monkeys, under a microscope. A higher dose of Ivermectin was used more than that used for humans. Although of interest, the researchers warned against the conclusion that it could work against COVID19 in humans. More work, the report stressed, needs to be done to determine its clinical efficacy concerning COVID- 19 and humans. However, a recent article by Kaur, H., Shekhar, N., Sharma, S. et al. titled, “Ivermectin as a potential drug for the treatment of COVID- 19: an in- sync review with clinical and computational attributes.” Pharmacol. Rep published January 3, 2021, indicates optimism in human trials. A retrospective cohort study of patients confirmed with SARS- COV- 2 infection hospitalized at a hospital in South Florida who were treated with ivermectin along with usual clinical care found a correlation to lower mortality particularly in patients needing higher inspired oxygen or ventilator support. Similarly, another study reported that ivermectin and doxycycline’s combination to be incredibly efficacious in SARS- COV- 2 clearance in patients with mild to moderate disease. Confirmed COVID- 19 patient from Bangladesh who were treated with ivermectin “improved within 72 h, no side effects were observed, intensive care admission was not required, no deaths were reported, and all of them tested negative” Another pilot clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin as an additional treatment to hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in mild to moderate hospitalized COVID- 19 patients proved to be more effective compared to the administration of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in a controlled clinical trial.

The authors have, however, pointed to “its limitation which is that its application is limited because of pharmacokinetic difficulties such as low solubility. These difficulties can be overcome by formulating liposomal ivermectin or other ivermectin formulations with improved properties.” In part 46 of this serial, I shall examine the new strains of COVID- 19.

THE economic indicies laying bare before Nigerians today reveal that the country is poorer than ever before and cannot fend adequately for its needs without borrowing. That might seem like the obvious consequence from the sharp fall in not just the demand, but the price of crude oil internationally. But most importantly, it is difficult to have a glowing economy because Nigeria’s government continues to operate a mono- economic system rather than opening and growing the economy through other sectors. However, none of this makes much difference before the Niger Deltans, because they have been rendered penniless and inactive for decades from their traditional occupation of farming and fishing by crude oil spill. This underlines the big challenges facing the region and reasons behind its youth unending restiveness. Of course, there is every need to be restive since the market value of oil does not reflect any value in the lives of Niger Deltans. Hence, the Niger Deltans are in constant search for justice to address the lingering issue about oil pollution and their livelihood.

Pardon me to digress a bit by telling an old joke as published by the Economist magazinerecently. It goes thus: a policeman sees an inebriated man searching for his keys under a lamp post and offers to help find them. After a few fruitless minutes, the officer asks the man whether he is certain he dropped his keys at that particular location. No, says the man, he lost them in the park. Then why search here, asks the officer. The man answers: “Because that is where the light is” for years the story has been used to illustrate the simple point of great relevance to social scientists, that what you find depends on where you look. The telling thing about this story with regards to the Niger Deltans is that, for much of their sufferings and pains from crude oil pollution, they have since 2008 narrowed their search for justice in faraway Dutch in Netherlands where the lamplight is of greater focus than back here at home where they lost their lands, waterways and occupation to crude oil pollution.

Indeed, it is welcoming news that some of the Niger Delta crude oil spills and degradation of the region’s environment is now linked and adequate penalty( ies) been pronounced against culprits. The few privilege communities that earned this ‘ golden feat’ are, Oruma in Ogba local government area of Bayelsa state, Goi in Gokana local government area of Rivers state and Ikot Ada in Ikot Abasi local government area of Akwa Ibom state respectively. After 13 years of legal wrangling, the appeal court in The Hague ruled that: “Shell Nigeria is sentenced to compensate farmers for damages”. The Shakespearian literature in Merchant of Venice refers such ruling as “... a Daniel has come to judgment…”. What else are the Niger Deltans demanding if not justice and the need for oil companies operating in the region to clean up the environment and be more careful in future operations. This is because oil pollution is not just corroding the environment, it is corroding the livelihood of Niger Deltans at every level. Just as it creates distrust between host communities and the oil companies, while it encourages youth restiveness to rise sharply.

The efforts of the Dutch court in its verdict is commendable. However, the foot dragging before the ruling may make the issue look like a new problem. But, in fact, it is a very old one. Also, the judgment is an attempt that tried to explain what a free and independent justice system should look like and how justice should be dispensed irrespective of influence surrounding an individual or corporate organisation. No doubt, the Dutch ruling is a much harder feat to achieve back here at home due to governments, past and present interference and insensitiveness to the plight of the Niger Deltans. Hence, the increasing cause to intensify emotions that results to volatile situations in the region. In a way the agitation for compensation and a clean environment now seems as a trial of strength between host communities and oil companies and by extension the Federal government.

However, the most depressing thing about oil spill in the Niger Delta is not just the destruction it causes on the environment. It is the way people, especially those in government circles and officials of oil companies echo a shadow accusation. They seem to lose all sense of good reasoning in their defense and distractive blame game. For instance, after the Dutch verdict against Shell, the Shell Petroleum Development Company ( SPDC) of Nigeria spokesman, Bamidele Odugbesan insisted that it was sabotage. He said: “We continue to believe that the spills in Oruma and Goi were the result of sabotage. We are therefore disappointed that this court has made a different finding on the cause of the spills…” Rather than possessing a marvelous self- correcting mechanism, like the court advised that Shell’s parent company, Netherlandsbased Royal Dutch Shell to install a leak detection system on the Oruma pipeline among others. It is disheartening to note that it is more appropriate for the oil companies to point accusing fingers at sabotage. By the way, who is the saboteur, is it the host communities? This therefore makes the Dutch verdict seems to have a critical question whether it might be at all in Shell’s interest to obey the court ruling. Notwithstanding the negative comments towards host communities, oil industry analysts, believes that the ruling would pave way for more cases against oil companies by host communities seeking reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the region. Indeed, the Niger Delta issue has become a matter that cannot be kicked down the road any longer. Much as the Dutch verdict reveals that the people from that region have refused to be taken hostage by the oil companies. As a lesson, it would be necessary for the federal government, through its institutions, especially law enforcement agencies and the judiciary to fall along the path of honour in all their dealings with the people of Nigeria, irrespective of region, tribe or religion.