The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, an agency of the Federal Government, has confirmed that only one person in Kebbi and Taraba states each had received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after about two weeks.The agency did not say if the only person was the state governor.
But it added that over 300,000 people had received their first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 in Nigeria.
The NPHCDA said on its official Twitter on Friday, noting that those vaccinated so far in the country were 9.5 per cent as of March 26, 2021.
It said over 374 585 people had been vaccinated across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The Nigeria Immunisation Agency data showed that all states except Kogi had commenced vaccination against the infection in the country.
It said Kogi State was not supplied with the vaccines because their cold store was still under repair following vandalisation during the EndSARS protest.
It stated that Lagos State, the epicentre of coronavirus in the country, had vaccinated almost 92,000 people, making it the highest in the country; followed by Ogun with 36,953, Bauchi-31,321, Kaduna-29,426, Jigawa-22, 420 and Kwara- 20,060.
The agency noted that “states with the lowest number of vaccinated people were Kebbi, Taraba, with one each, while Abia had four.”
The NPHCDA said Nigerians could register for their COVID-19 vaccination by visiting its website nphcda.gov.ng and clicking on COVID-19 Vaccination e-registration.
The Kano State Government said it has prosecuted no fewer than 200 residents for violating the COVID-19 safety protocols. The State Commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba, made the disclosure in a statement in Kano on Monday.
Mr Garba said the violators were arrested and prosecuted by the mobile courts attached to the joint team of security agencies and COVID-19 marshals established to ensure compliance. He said 102 of the violators were fined N5, 000 each, while 25 others had been remanded in prison by the 21 mobile courts set up to deal with non-compliance to safety protocols.
Mr Garba explained that compliance to the protocols had been a huge challenge in Kano and it hindered the efforts of the government in curbing the spread of the virus. The commissioner said the enforcement measure became necessary to preserve public safety and ensure full compliance with the Coronavirus prevention protocols, particularly the use of face masks.
According to him, the enforcement, led by the state Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA), included personnel of the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Department of State Security Service and the COVID-19 marshals. The joint teams, he said, were spread at strategic locations where violators were arrested and instantly prosecuted by the mobile courts.
The commissioner, however, pointed out that the decision was in response to the new variant of the virus, which called for caution and adherence to safety measures.
The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has said schools across the country may be shut if COVID-19 positive cases continue to rise.
The PTF stated this in a video posted on its Twitter handle on Monday.
In the video, the National Incident Manager, Mukhtar Muhammed said: “The issue of school reopening is something that the PTF has discussed very extensively. The ministry of education decided to open the schools. Based on our own understanding, it was the states that actually wanted to have the schools reopened.
“Now, the PTF is watching this very closely, we are monitoring what is going on and if we find out that cases continue to rise in the country and we start to have incidences in schools, certainly, we will have the schools closed.
“In the first instance, we should have delayed opening of the schools but now that the schools are opened, the PTF will continue to monitor very closely with all the schools to ensure that they institute measures and ensure that people follow as much as possible.”
It would be recalled that government had shut down schools in December, 2020 in the wake of the second wave of the deadly pandemic in the country.
It would also be recalled that Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of the PTF had blamed the reopening of schools, worship centres, businesses and international travels as being responsible for the second wave of the deadly virus in the country.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered full enforcement of the COVID-19 Health Protection Regulations. The executive order was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 26.
Adamu ordered Assistant Inspectors General of Police in the 17 zonal commands, Commissioners of Police in 36 and the Federal Capital Territory to comply by ensuring immediate implementation.
Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba made the announcement in a statement on Monday.
Adamu said the regulation gives the Nigeria Police and other agencies of government the powers to implement and prosecute defaulters.
Police officers will target public places, religious centers, offices, schools, event centres, bars, clubs, malls banks, public transport vehicles, among others. They are to enforce restrictions on gatherings and the use of face masks.
Adamu advised the public to voluntarily comply with the provisions of the law for general safety. The IGP, however, cautioned officers to be firm, professional, civil and respect citizens while enforcing the order.
President Buhari’s son-in-law gets covid19 vaccine in Dubai. President Buhari’s son-in-law , Ahmed Indimi got his covid 19 vaccine in Dubai. He revealed this via his Instagram page with a picture of him getting vaccinated. He wrote,
“Vaccinated!!”
President Buhari’s son-in-law, Ahmed Indimi is married to one of President Buhari’s daughters, Zahra Buhari.
FG contemplates lockdown in hotspot local governments in Lagos, Abuja and others.
The Federal Government has announced that it is contemplating a targeted lockdown in hotspot local governments in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and major cities in the country.
National Incident Manager of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Mukhtar Muhammad disclosed this while appearing on a Channels Television Programme on Friday January 29.
Muhammad said they noticed the most affected places are urban areas and the restriction will be in those places.
He said; “Certainly, even if we are going to have a lockdown, it is not going to be a total lockdown. A couple of weeks back, we analysed the data and we identified the hotspot local government areas.
“Mostly, the areas affected are the urban local governments in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Plateau. Even in most other states, it is the urban areas that are involved. So, if we are going to have any restrictions, it will be in these areas.
“The urban areas are the most affected and that is why we have these superspreaders and that is where we are going to target. We have analysed that and we are advising the states based on the data that these are the focused areas where these transmissions are more than the others.”
COVID-19 protocol defaulters risk jail as Buhari signs regulations.
President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, signed Coronavirus (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulations 2021 as part of efforts to boost the COVID-19 response in the country.
The introduction of the Regulations is a welcome development, according to Nigerian Medical Association and other stakeholders in the health sector.
Buhari said the regulations, which would take immediate effect, were given urgent consideration to safeguard the health and ensure the well-being of Nigerians, especially in the face of rising COVID-19 cases in the country.
• NMA, others welcome guidelines • Urge pharmacies to moderate costs of preventive items
The guidelines state that any person that contravened provisions of the regulations commits, upon conviction, risked a fine or a term of six months imprisonment or both in accordance with Section 5 of the Quarantine Act.
The President directed the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, and other relevant local government, state and Federal governments’ agencies to enforce the regulations, warning that any officer that failed, neglected, or refused to enforce the provisions of the regulations would be subjected to disciplinary actions.
“Any person who, without reasonable cause, contravenes a direction given under Parts 1 and 2 of these regulations commits an offence. Any person who, without reasonable cause, obstructs an authorised official from enforcement of these regulations commits an offence,” the document states.
According the regulations, persons confirmed positive for COVID-19 by an NCDC accredited laboratory, may not refuse isolation and or admission to a designated health establishment for management of the disease.
The regulations also state that physical distance of no less two metres shall be maintained at all gatherings between persons and no gathering of more than 50 persons shall hold in an enclosed space, except for religious purposes, in which case the gathering shall not exceed 50 per cent capacity of the space.
It also stipulates that all persons in public gatherings, whether in enclosed or open spaces, shall adhere to the provisions of the regulations, which may be varied by guidelines and protocols as may be issued, from time to time, by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on the recommendation of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Others are that no person should be allowed within the premises of a market, mall, supermarket, shop, restaurants, hotels, event centres, gardens, leisure parks, recreation centres, motor parks, fitness centres or any other similar establishment (hereinafter collectively referred to as “establishments”) except he wears a face covering that covers the nose and mouth, washes his hands or clean the hands, using hand sanitiser approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and his body temperature checked.
It reads, “Any person found to have body temperature above 38 degrees Celsius shall be denied entry and advised to immediately seek medical attention. Every establishment occupier shall make provision for regular hand hygiene for any person coming into the premises during opening hours. This includes a hand-washing station with soap and running water, or hand sanitiser approved by NAFDAC.
REGARDING places of worship, the regulation states that all worshippers and users of places of worship shall comply with the provisions of Parts 1 and 2 of the Regulations and should, where and whenever possible, avoid sharing worship items such as mats, bottles, and hymnal materials, among others.
“It is the responsibility of the person in charge of a place of worship to ensure compliance with the provisions of these Regulations within the worship centre,” the Regulations states.
In workplaces and schools, all persons are also required to comply with the provisions of Parts 1 and 2 of the Regulations.
The Regulations add that it is the responsibility of the person in charge of a workplace or a school to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Regulations. On banks it stipulates: “All employees, customers and visitors of banks shall comply with the provisions of Parts 1 and 2 of the Regulations. All banks shall comply with the guidelines, mode and scope of operations issued by the Central Bank and Federal Ministry of Finance as it relates to the COVID-19 response. All banks shall develop a schedule for regular cleaning of buttons and surfaces of Mantrap Entrance Doors, ATM machines and other commonly used areas.”
All operators and passengers of public transportation vehicles (referred to as operators), shall comply with the provisions of Part 2 of these Regulations and ensure adequate spacing in between passengers.
Operators in the transport sector, according to the Regulations, shall ensure frequent cleaning and disinfection of parts of the vehicle frequently handled by passengers and drivers such as doors and window handles/buttons, steering wheels and dashboards.
Managers of hostels, boarding houses, nursing homes, correctional centres, remand homes, holding cells, military detention facilities, and other similar centres centres are required to ensure compliance with the provisions of the regulations.
It asked managers of such facilities to ensure that suspected cases of COVID-19 are promptly and appropriately separated from others and are reported to medical officers of the state ministry of health for necessary action.
It asks state governors to issue regulations on further steps as may be considered necessary.
PRESIDENT, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Innocent Ujah, told The Guardian the President took a necessary step towards checking the spread of COVID-19. “We thank Mr. President for this Law on COVID-19 and compliance with the NCDC Protocol. Enforcement of the provision of the Law will be tested for compliance.”
Similarly, the President, African Fertility Society (AFS), Joint Pioneer IVF in Nigeria and Medical Director of Medical Art Centre (MART), Lagos, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, described the Regulations as a welcome development.
He said it would ensure proper use of face mask and social distancing and reduce infection transmission.
“It should give a downward slope to number of infected cases and death. It would have been nice if the government added the recommendation of immune boosters and other preventive prophylaxis such as Vit D, Zinc, and Ivermectin.
“Furthermore, there is need to plead with pharmaceutical shops not to over price such preventive drugs and masks. If possible, such drugs should be made available in all local government primary health care clinics, doctors clinics, and hospitals.”
A public health physician, member of Lagos State COVID-19 team and former Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Akin Osibogun, said: “This is a step in the right direction.”
*Please take note and wear your nose mask wherever you are going *
The government of Kwara State has confirmed no fewer than 115 fresh cases of COVID-19 in the state and the discharge of 56 patients who have recovered from the deadly virus.
This was contained in a daily update issued on Wednesday by the spokesman of the state COVID-19 Technical Committee, Rafiu Ajakaye, who said that the state has recorded 40 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The update issued by Ajakaye also puts the total number of confirmed cases of the virus at 1,952, while a total of 1,610 patients have so far been discharged after testing negative for the deadly disease.
“The total number of active cases now stands at 299, with 358 as pending tests.
“A total of 15,317 tests have been conducted and 13,007 returned as negative,” the update added.
Nigeria currently has 1,861 fresh COVID-19 cases of the virus according to the latest figures provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which disclosed this on its Twitter handle.
The Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech) has been shut down with the students ordered to vacate their hostels by Thursday, January 28, following the death of the College’s Director, Academic Planning Unit, M.A.O Omoighe, from COVID-19 complications.
The College medical centre has also been shut down for two weeks while those who had direct contacts with the late Director were told to undergo COVID-19 test and proceed on self-isolation while the lecturers have been instructed to commence online lectures immediately.
The Academic Board of the institution, in a circular, said:
“The College should resort to online teaching immediately, for smooth lecturing, lecturers should provide lecture notes to students beforehand and utilise the online period for explanations of the lecture notes; lecturers are to adopt acceptable modality for the online lecturing.
The Centre for Information Technology and Management (CITM) and the Flexible Skill Development (FSD) should work out improved modalities to enhance e-learning in the college.
“Any meeting of more than 10 persons should be held virtually. Students should vacate the hotels latest Thursday, January 28, 2021. Management will make arrangements to decontaminate the college in due course. This will be done on weekends. Offices are to operate at half capacity.
“All administrative staff should come to the office on alternate days. Any staff that manifests malaria symptoms should self-isolate immediately for two weeks and go for COVID-19 test.
“The academic planning unit should be closed down for two weeks. All staff of the unit should go on isolation and carry out COVID-19 test. The unit should be de-decontaminated before reopening.
“The Medical Centre should be closed for two weeks and thereafter disinfected and staff that had direct contacts with the deceased should self-isolate and carry outCOVID-19 test.”
The government of Zimbabwe has confirmed the death of two serving ministers who both died after contracting the deadly COVID-19 disease.
This was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by the deputy health minister John Mangwiro who said that Transport Minister Joel Matiza had died after falling ill with COVID-19, less than two days after the country lost Foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo to the same disease.
He also revealed plans to intensify the current lockdown, which has been in place since early January and includes a strict nightly curfew.
“We are in a dark cloud that we have to clear very soon,” the deputy health minister said.
Mangwiro also said that restaurants, bars and gyms have also been forced to close.
“We have seen people not adhering to the lockdown regulations announced early this month,” he added.
Reports say Zimbabwe has registered 30,523 cases of infection since the start of the pandemic, including 962 deaths.
Nigeria on Friday recorded 1,483 fresh COVID-19 cases.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which disclosed this on its Twitter handle, said the new COVID-19 cases were recorded in 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It added that the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Nigeria stood at 1,490 as of Friday night.
Also, the total number of confirmed cases increased to 118,138.
Meanwhile, 94,150 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from various isolation facilities in the country.
The breakdown of the figure on a state-by-state basis revealed the following: Kaduna (545), FCT (235), Plateau (127), Nasarawa (80), Oyo (72), Delta (65), Rivers (64), Kano (46), Ogun (46), Bayelsa (30), Gombe (30), Abia (28), and Osun (27).
Others are – Edo (25), Ondo (14), Sokoto (12), Zamfara (10), Bauchi (8), Imo (5), Jigawa (4), Ekiti (4), Borno (4), and Niger (2).
The family of Ibraheem El-Zakzakky, the detained leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shiites, has revealed that his wife, Zeenat, has contracted the COVID-19 virus while in detention at the Kaduna Prison.
The duo have been in detention since 2015 after being charged with culpable homicide and other sundry offences following a clash between his protesting members and operatives of the Nigerian Army who waylayed the convoy of Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, leading to the killings of hundreds of the protesters.
Making the revelation in a press statement on Thursday, one of the sons of the IMN leader, Mohammad, said his mother is yet to be evacuated despite informing authorities about her status, an act he described as an “assassination tool.”
In the statement, Mohammad said:
“Six days ago, after a routine visit to the Kaduna State prison by my parents’ doctors, my mother complained of fatigue, fever and a complete loss of the ability to smell.
“The doctors decided to carry out a number of standard tests in order to understand what the problem was. Among the tests that were carried out was a test for the novel coronavirus.
“This was a routine procedure and it is important to state that she has been denied treatment for acute medical conditions, including severe arthritis of the knee for years now.
“Meanwhile, the COVID-19 test came back positive. I imagined that due to the diligent way in which the prison management had been conducting and managing the facility, a COVID-19 outbreak would be extremely unlikely.
“But once I heard of the test result, my first action was to ensure that it was tried, tested and confirmed.
“I expected that following our risky entrance into the predictable ‘petri dish’ of Kaduna State prison for what it is, the person in charge of Kaduna State prison would officially do his job and inform the State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and the chain of command that the current campaign of torture, extortion, corruption and murder has come to this and my mother, Zeenah Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, needs to be immediately hospitalized.
“My mother is still in Kaduna prison at the moment, yet to be hospitalized and to receive proper health care.”
The Nigerian government says all is now set for the construction of 38 oxygen plants across the country as President Muhammadu Buhari has now approved about 17 million dollars for the project meant to address the demand for medical oxygen. The West African country’s COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed to over 1,000 infections in the last few weeks amidst a second wave of the pandemic.
Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed told a meeting of the National Economic Council. Wednesday that the construction of the new plants was necessitated by an increase in the number of patients in need oxygen. In a statement, the government said it had earmarked an additional $671,000 for repairing existing oxygen generation facilities in five hospitals.
The authorities have said that the situation was critical though the number of Covid-19 patients in need of oxygen support is unclear. Nigeria on Thursday, recorded 1,964 infections – its highest number of new daily cases so far.
Oxygen shortages are common in Nigerian public hospitals leading to the death of some patients. But authorities now say severe cases of COVID-19 requiring oxygen have worsened the situation.
According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, a large number of patients who are currently on admission in the isolation centres who aare largely dependent on oxygen. A patient with a critical case may use about six cylinders of oxygen in 24 hours, Abayomi explains. In the commercial capital Lagos, the epicenter of Nigeria’s outbreak, demand for oxygen at one of its main hospitals had increased fivefold in recent weeks to 350 6-liter cylinders a day according to the state government.
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Thursday issued a warning to residents of the state, especially the market community, to strictly comply with COVID-19 protocols as a rise in the number of infections is being reported in the state.
The deputy governor of the state, Nasiru Gawuna, revealed this on behalf of the governor at a COVID-19 stakeholders’ meeting with market community leaders in the state at the Government House in Kano.
He said it had been reported that 19 family members tested positive for COVID-19 after its breadwinner recently got infected and died as a result.
He said, “This COVID-19 pandemic is real and we have to seriously fight it.
“There was a house where the breadwinner died of COVID-19 recently and when the family members were tested, 19 of them were found to be positive,”
“We all know that it is the marketers that suffer most whenever there is a lockdown especially those who have to work to feed on a daily basis.
“Adhere to the necessary COVID-19 protocols to avoid the spread of the pandemic in the state and to avoid a situation that will necessitate the lockdown again,” he added.
The governor emphasized that the second wave of the virus was deadlier and warned residents to comply with the safety protocols in order to prevent another lockdown as well as closure of markets in the state.
He also promised 100,000 facemasks will be distributed to the market community to mitigate the spread of the pandemic and encourage compliance.
Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, a former governor of Sokoto State, Tuesday said that Northerners and indeed all Nigerians were not happy with the security situation in the country.
Bafarawa revealed this in his state of the nation address where he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to show more concern on insecurity than COVID-19, adding that insecurity had claimed more lives than the pandemic.
According to him, the government appeared to have abandoned the situation and channelled all its effort to a pandemic that had taken about 2000 lives in the country.
He said: “When I see things are not going, I cannot keep quiet, because if I keep quiet maybe other parts of the country will start accusing us that we are promoting what is bad. But, the reality is that we in the north are not happy with the way things are going.
“I see Nigeria as one country, it is not a question of whether the president is a northerner, we are not saying this based on our own personal interest, we are saying this behalf of the people who do not have the opportunity to say it, and I believe most of Nigerians have the same feeling. In my village about 14 people were killed just two days ago, insecurity has not improved,” Bafarawa said.
“About 2000 people have died last year from Coronavirus, come to think of how many lives were killed within a year, 3000 to 400,000 people died from insecurity. ”
He further adviced the government to divert the budgeted N400bn for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines to tackling insecurity.
“Now we are talking about 400 billion and just about 2,000 people have died. Why can’t we divert this money for security? Because this insecurity is Nigeria’s Coronavirus because we don’t have much COVID-19 in Nigeria, so that we can move forward.
“Coronavirus has taken lives less than insecurity. Insecurity has taken lives and property. Look at the danger the insecurity is bringing, if we use that 400 billion to buy security equipment, it will do a lot in curbing insecurity”, he added.
He said Kogi would not respond to the second wave of the virus with “mass hysteria”.
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has discouraged the use of COVID-19 vaccine, claiming that the jabs are meant to kill people.
The Nigerian government had said it was expecting at least 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines to come in by the end of January 2021.
According to Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), provisions have been made for President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to receive the vaccine on live television.
Kayode Fayemi, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, while addressing journalists in Abuja after meeting with President Buhari last week, said he and his colleagues would also take the vaccine on live television.
Yahaya Bello
He said, “We too will like to demonstrate to our citizens that we believe that the vaccines would work.
“Don’t forget, we have a lot of experience on this. The Governors Forum managed the polio vaccines administration in the country and we have garnered a lot of experience.”
But in a viral video, Bello condemned the use of the vaccine, saying it was produced to kill people.
Speaking to a crowd of people, the Kogi governor doubted the authenticity of the vaccine, saying there is no cure for HIV and many other diseases troubling mankind.
He however did not provide any evidence to support his claims that the vaccine could be dangerous to the health.
Bello said, “Vaccines are being produced in less than one year of COVID-19. There is no vaccine yet for HIV, malaria, cancer, headache and for several other diseases that are killing us. They want to use the (COVID-19) vaccines to introduce the disease that will kill you and us. God forbid.
“We should draw our minds back to what happened in Kano during (sic) the Pfizer polio vaccines that crippled and killed our children. We have learned our lessons.
“If they say they are taking the vaccines in public, allow them to take their vaccines. Don’t say I said you should not take it but if you want to take it, open your eyes before you take the vaccines.”
This is not the first time the governor would be making controversial assertions about the virus or the potency of the vaccine.
In a Channel’s TV programme last December, Bello also questioned the need for Nigeria to procure COVID-19 vaccine.
“What is applicable over there may not work in Nigeria. We don’t need to participate in this marketing of COVID-19 vaccine. We should channel the money we want to use to buy the vaccines to other things. The Presidential Task Force (PTF) should give the right advice to the president,” he said.
Also, in his New Year broadcast, Bello said it would be irresponsible of his government to see COVID-19 as a definer of 2020.
He said Kogi would not respond to the second wave of the virus with “mass hysteria”.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 1,449 people have died of COVID-19 complications across the country.
While the country has recorded 112,004 cases of the disease, 89,939 people have recovered from it.
Kogi is one of the states where COVID-19 figures are believed to be highly questionable as the governor has insisted that there is no coronavirus in the state.
Both Pope Francis and his predecessor, former pope Benedict XVI, have received the coronavirus vaccine, the Vatican said on Thursday.
“I can confirm that as part of the vaccination program of the Vatican City State, as of today, the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to Pope Francis and to the Pope Emeritus,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office in response to journalists’ questions.
Pope Francis had announced during an interview with Italian television station Tg5 on Sunday that he planned to receive the vaccine this week.
The Pope referred to the vaccination as “an ethical action, because you are gambling with your health, you are gambling with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others.”
Private Secretary to Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, Bishop Georg Gaenswein, had also confirmed that the Pope emeritus would be vaccinated.
Makinde says he hopes to get as many COVID-19 vaccines as possible for Oyo residents.
Oyo governor, Seyi Makinde, says he’s opening discussions with COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to get a sufficient supply for residents of the state.
Nigeria hopes to kick off its vaccination campaign against the novel disease by the end of January 2021 with the supply of 100,000 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be focused on frontline workers.
According to the sharing formula published by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Oyo State will receive 1,848 doses of the vaccine.
Seyi Makinde
Makinde said during a media briefing on Wednesday, January 13 that the number allocated to Oyo by the Federal Government is grossly inadequate for the state’s need, prompting him to explore other methods. I have been advised that Astrazeneca vaccine is more suitable for Oyo State due to storage instructions.
“So we are opening discussions directly with the manufacturers to see how we can get as many as possible for our people,” he said.
Oyo is the fifth worst affected by COVID-19 in Nigeria where nearly 104,000 cases have been detected since last February.
A second wave of the virus kicked off in December 2020 with a sharp rise in the number of daily cases recorded nationwide.
Makinde said on Wednesday that the second wave in Oyo is not a thing because the curve was never flattened in the state to begin with.
“Rather, we had more people becoming complacent and acting as if the pandemic was over,” he said.
The governor called on residents to not let their guard down and continue to adhere strictly to COVID-19 safety protocols.
Lagos state government on Wednesday, January 13, sealed the popular Eko club event center in Surulere for violation of COVID19 protocols.
According to the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor of Lagos State on New Media, Gawat Jubril, the center was sealed for holding a packed funeral. Pictures shared online showed that the funeral was held in total disregard of COVID19 protocols such as social distancing.
”Lagos State Safety Commission and the Lagos State Task Force in a joint enforcement exercise, SEALED the Eko Club event centre in Surulere for complete disregard of Covid19 protocols at a funeral event which was held recently at the event centre.”Gawat wrote on Twitter.
Hospitals in Lagos are facing a tidal wave of Covid as the authorities warn of the dangers from a new viral strain, yet many people in Nigeria’s mega-city seem indifferent.
The New Year’s break saw thousands of people gathered on the city’s beaches for fun and relaxation, and social distancing was as rare as mask-wearing.
At night, young people have been crowding blithely into the city’s discotheques — for those stopped at curfew roadblocks, a small banknote slipped into a policeman’s hand has often been enough to ease any problems.
Gaudy weddings have taken place without a hitch, sometimes with a hundred or so guests, double the 50 officially allowed for gatherings.
Denial or insouciance in this famously bustling city seem widespread.
“If I feel ill, I’ll do the test for malaria, not for Covid, it doesn’t kill,” said Ali, a 27-year-old taxi driver.
Tsunami
The city’s government and medical community have multiplied warnings, urging people to wear masks, respect social distancing and obey the curfew.
“We are well into the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yesterday, Lagos scarily recorded its highest number of infections in one day,” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Tuesday.
“This second wave comes with severe symptoms and (a) higher number of positive cases,” he said. “2021 will only work for us if we take #COVID19 seriously.”
According to official figures, Lagos — a city of around 20 million souls — has so far notched up 33,329 cases of coronavirus, of which 250 have been fatal, in a national tally of 94,369 cases, 1,324 of them fatal.
But these figures, in a population of around 200 million, Africa’s largest, are likely to be far short of the true tally, given the paucity of testing.
At Paelon Memorial Hospital, a private facility in the business district of Victoria Island, managing director Ngozi Onyia likened the surge in cases to a “tsunami” rather than merely a second wave.
“My phones are ringing off the hook,” she said.
said.
“I’m making tough calls — who to take into the treatment centre, who to put on one of our four ventilators — ethical decisions I’ve never had to make in 38-plus years.”
At Lagos University Hospital, a public facility, director Chris Bode said Covid’s resurgence “is ravaging our land, claiming many lives.”
He blamed the second wave on a new local viral strain that he said was “deadlier” than the first — an assertion that for now is not supported by the variant’s discoverers.
Vaccine cavalry
The authorities are stepping up well-worn appeals to prevent viral spread, although social distancing in the crowded streets, markets and public transport of Lagos is notoriously difficult.
Even so, “prevention messaging is the best approach” for now, said Yap Boum of Epicentre, the research branch of Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Like other countries, Nigeria is looking urgently to vaccines to stop and reverse the tide.
The government says it hopes to receive 100,000 doses by the end of January and inoculate 40 percent of the population by the end of the year.
Already, rich countries are finding vaccination to be a major task, both in securing sufficient supplies and administering formulas that have to be kept extremely cold.
But it is an even greater undertaking in a large underdeveloped country like Nigeria, where transport problems and unreliable power supplies can disrupt the cold chain.
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The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
