Nigeria recruits churches and mosques to speed up mass vaccinations

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, on Wednesday confirmed its first cases of the new Covid-19 variant, saying it had been found in three passengers who had travelled to South Africa.

West African neighbour Ghana also said it had recorded the new Omicron variant, attributing the cases to Nigeria and South Africa.

Omicron cases have been detected in many countries since the strain was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in South Africa last week, leading to border closures and travel restrictions.