The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said the state would, by weekend, receive its second batch of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, to protect the people against the deadly virus.
The governor disclosed this during an inspection at the Edo State Primary Healthcare Agency, to monitor the state’s readiness ahead of the arrival of the vaccines.
According to Obaseki, “there is a third wave of COVID, and the Delta variant is currently ravaging the world. With the work our epidemiological team has been doing, we know that the Delta variant is already with us here in Nigeria. We are beginning to witness an increase in COVID-19 cases across the country.
“This visit is to check our response arrangements and emergency facilities, which we used for the first and second waves of COVID-19 to make sure that they are in shape and are ready for the response that we are currently planning for the third wave.
“The Edo State COVID-19 response team has been reactivated; l am the chairman of the team and the deputy governor is the chairman of the Technical Committee. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, the Executive Secretary of the Primary Healthcare Development Agency and experts from the University of Benin are all ready to make sure that we are not caught unaware.”
“We are receiving some Moderna vaccines this weekend and this visit is in preparation for the receipt of the vaccines and ensuring that we have the processes in place to deliver the vaccines to Edo people,” the governor added.
On his part, the state’s Specialist Epidemiologist, Dr. Greg Oko-Oboh, urged citizens who have been vaccinated with the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to come for their second dose.
Oko-Oboh noted: “We are receiving about 3.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, including Moderna, AstraZeneca, as well as Johnson and Johnson.
“We have enough and it will be spread over time. For now, we are expecting the Moderna vaccine, which is different from the AstraZeneca we had received before.
“You cannot take different doses of the vaccines. If you take AstraZeneca as the first dose, it must be AstraZeneca for the second dose and not Moderna. The state and federal governments have tried to ensure that we have the two doses for vaccination.”
He further urged: “In the data that we are monitoring, we have about 20,600 Edo citizens that took the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine and have not taken the second dose. We are expecting and encouraging everyone to come forward for the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine when it arrives.”
