TECHDIGEST – Video-sharing giant, YouTube, says it would remove videos that falsely claim approved COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.

It will also remove false claims about routine immunizations for measles, Hepatitis B and other diseases.

YouTube has already banned posts that spread false myths around coronavirus treatments, including ones that share inaccurate claims about Covid-19 vaccines shown to be safe.

But the Google-owned site said its concerns about the spread of medical conspiracy theories went beyond the pandemic, as false claims about coronavirus vaccine has extended into misinformation about vaccines in general.

“We’re now at a point where it’s more important than ever to expand the work we started with COVID-19 to other currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the World Health Organization.”

These would include cases where vloggers have falsely claimed that approved vaccines do not work, or wrongly linked them to chronic health effects like autism, cancer, infertility and others.

However, it stressed there would be exceptions to the new guidelines, with personal testimonials of negative experiences with vaccines still allowed, so long as “the channel doesn’t show a pattern of promoting vaccine hesitancy.”

YouTube said it had removed more than 130,000 videos since last year for violating its COVID-19 vaccine policies.

Earlier this month, Facebook launched a renewed effort to tackle extremist and conspiracy groups, beginning by taking down a German network spreading Covid misinformation.

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TECHDIGEST – Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2021 supplementary appropriation bill of N983 billion into law.

Of the amount, recurrent (non-debt) expenditure will gulp N123 billion, while N895 billion will go into capital expenditure.

The supplementary budget covers the procurement of security equipment, vaccines and other COVID-19 related equipment.

TheCable brings you highlights of the supplementary budget below:

N4.87 BILLION FOR WHATSAPP AND THURAYA INTERCEPTION SOLUTIONS

The supplementary budget allocated N4.87 billion (4,870,350,000) for the National Intelligence agency (NIA). The provision is for the procurement of military intelligence equipment — Thuraya Interception Solution for N2.94 billion and WhatsApp Interception Solution (N1.93 billion).

Despite public outcry and protest against the provision by the public, the lawmakers went ahead to approved the procurement for the executive arm as stated in the budget submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari.

LABORATORY EQUIPMENT, COVID VACCINE TO GULP N90.87 BILLION

From the supplementary budget, the ministry of health got N2.8 billion to procure molecular laboratory equipment in national hospitals.

The hospitals include National Orthopedic hospital, Igbobi, National Eye Centre, Kaduna, National Ear Care Centre, Kaduna, National Fistula Centre Abakaliki, National Fistula Hospital, Katsina, National Fistula Hospital, Sokoto, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital and Federal Medical Centre Asaba Annex Aniocha.

They were allocated N300 million each for the equipment, while N400 million is earmarked for the Federal Medical Centre, Nguru, for the same purpose.

On other capital supplementary allocation, the federal government N67.44 billion (67,443,671,374) for the procurement and installation of oxygen plants as well as vaccine procurement for the country.

The breakdown showed that N60.3 billion would be used to procure 29.8 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines under the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) arrangements.

The African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), a 10-member team drawn from across the continent, was established by the African COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, set up in November 2020 by the African Union. The essence is to ensure that the African continent secures sufficient COVID-19 vaccine doses to achieve herd immunity.

Further breakdown showed that the federal government intends to spend N20.63 billion as delivery cost of the vaccines to every ward and ensure the availability of workers to administer vaccines at primary health centres.

The remaining N6.2 billion was earmarked for the procurement and installation of new oxygen plants nationwide and some repairs of the plants in federal capital (FCT) hospitals.

ARMS, AMMUNITION, BULLETPROOF VESTS, BUSES FOR EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will receive N3.5 billion to buy operational vehicles, arms, ammunition and other related items, including bulletproof vests and uniforms.

Of the figure, N1.5 billion will go into arms, ammunition and other related items, while N2 billion is for the purchase of operational vehicles, buses and pick-up vans.

N779.1 BILLION FOR OTHER SECURITY AGENCIES

Apart from EFCC and NIA, other security agencies got N779.1 billion.

The ministry of police affairs got N8.5 billion as allocation, police formation and command got N22.59 billion, Defence headquarters N33.67 billion, Nigerian army N207.54 billion, Nigerian navy N157.7 billion, Nigerian air force N239.48 billion, Defence space administration N43.33 billion, and Defence intelligence agency got N16.89 billion.

Others include Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) with N14.82 billion as allocation, office of the national security adviser (HQ) N17 billion, Department of State Services (DSS) N17.5 billion, and National Intelligence Agency with N4.87 billion.

The amounts are for the procurement of military hardware and infrastructures, including buses, arms, ammunition, etc.

N1.68 BILLION TO NACA FOR NCAPS PROGRAMME

The supplementary budget also allocated N1.68 billion to the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) for its Nigerian Comprehensive Aids Programmes in states (NCAPS).

The NCAP programme is to fund the acquisition of antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment in Nigeria.

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TECH DIGEST – IBM is sounding the alarm over hackers targeting companies critical to the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, a sign that digital spies are turning their attention to the complex logistical work involved in inoculating the world’s population against the novel coronavirus.

The information technology company said in a blog post published on Thursday that it had uncovered “a global phishing campaign” focused on organizations associated with the COVID-19 vaccine “cold chain” — the process needed to keep vaccine doses at extremely cold temperatures as they travel from manufacturers to people’s arms.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reposted the report, warning members of Operation Warp Speed — the U.S. government’s national vaccine mission — to be on the lookout.

Understanding how to build a secure cold chain is fundamental to distributing vaccines developed by the likes of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE because the shots need to be stored at –70 C or below to avoid spoiling.

IBM’s cybersecurity unit said it had detected an advanced group of hackers working to gather information about different aspects of the cold chain, using meticulously crafted booby-trapped emails sent in the name of an executive with Haier Biomedical, a Chinese cold chain provider that specializes in vaccine transport and biological sample storage.

The hackers went through “an exceptional amount of effort,” said IBM analyst Claire Zaboeva, who helped draft the report. Hackers researched the correct make, model and pricing of various Haier refrigeration units, Zaboeva said.

“Whoever put together this campaign was intimately aware of whatever products were involved in the supply chain to deliver a vaccine for a global pandemic,” she said.

Haier Medical did not return messages seeking comment.

Messages sent to the email addresses used by the hackers were not returned.

IBM said the bogus Haier emails were sent to around 10 different organizations but only identified one target by name: the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, which handles tax and customs issues across the EU and has helped set rules on the import of vaccines.

Representatives for the directorate-general could not immediately be reached for comment.

IBM said other targets included companies involved in the manufacture of solar panels, which are used to power vaccine refrigerators in warm countries, and petrochemical products that could be used to derive dry ice.

Who is behind the vaccine supply chain espionage campaign isn’t clear.

Reuters has previously documented how hackers linked to Iran, Vietnam, North Korea, South Korea, China, and Russia have on separate occasions been accused by cybersecurity experts or government officials of trying to steal information about the virus and its potential treatments.

IBM’s Zaboeva said there was no shortage of potential suspects. Figuring out how to swiftly distribute an economy-saving vaccine “should be topping the lists of nation states across the world,” she said.

Last month, Microsoft said it had detected mostly unsuccessful attempts by state-backed Russian and North Korean hackers to steal data from leading pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers. It gave no information on how many succeeded or how serious those breaches were. Chinese state-backed hackers have also targeted vaccine makers, the U.S. government said in announcing criminal charges in July.

Microsoft said most of the targets — located in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States — were researching vaccines and COVID-19 treatments.

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TECH DIGEST – Epazz, a leading cloud-based software company that specializes in providing customized cloud applications to the corporate world, higher-education institutions and the public sector has introduced a Vaccine Management Solution as part of Covid-19 compliance features.

This is coming after the announcement by one of the leading pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, that it has developed a vaccine with a promising result of 90 percent effectivity according to the company’s clinical results.

According to the company, the vaccine management software will facilitate the tracking and management of employees’ immunization against the Coronavirus. It allows employees to indicate their vaccination history through the health record management service. With the development of approved Covid-19 vaccines on the way, company administrators can monitor which team member has completed their vaccinations and which employees need a reminder to schedule and receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

“We are optimistic that adding the vaccine management software feature will further secure the workplace and schools from COVID-19 infections. When administrators identify those who haven’t had the vaccine, they can make the appropriate decision to protect the majority,” said Shaun Passley, Ph.D., Chairman, and CEO of Epazz, Inc.

Pharmaceutical companies across the world are working double-time to create a vaccine against the Novel 2019 Coronavirus. One of the leading pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, developed a vaccine with a promising result of 90percent effective according to the company’s clinical results. Over 43,538 volunteers participated and received two injections within 21 days apart. The company claimed that among the 94 evaluable COVID-19 cases, results revealed that more than 90% effectively prevented the Coronavirus infection. This result exceeded the Food and Drug Administration set a 50% minimum effectiveness bar. This promising result will pave the way for mass vaccinations if FDA approves the final stage of testing.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other collaborative health agencies initiated the Immunization Integration Program (IIP) four years ago. After clinicians found it challenging to keep track and improve adult vaccinations, the program started. The program’s goal was to help automate immunization-related tasks with an electronic health record and clinic software systems. Thus, with the digitalization of immunization records and schedules, the program aimed to increase vaccination rates within the adult population and secure these immunization records in cloud-based storage.

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