COVID-19 Third Wave: Anxiety as Nigeria loses eight persons in 24 hours

No fewer than eight people have died in the last 24 hours as the third wave of the COVID-19 continues to take its toll on the country.

Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire disclosed this at Monday’s briefing of the Presidential Steering Committee PSC on COVID-19.

He said; “As of today, we have recorded a total of 199, 151 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 365 in the past 24hours, from 2,941,438 samples tested so far.

“We have also sadly altogether lost 2,598 persons, 8 in the past 24hrs, and a case fatality rate of 1.3%, a slight increase over the 1.2% of a few weeks ago.

“The dreaded 3rd wave of COVID-19 may appear to be leveling out, because there has been no catastrophic increases in infections and fatalities, but it is not wise to assume that the threat is gone, especially as cases are fluctuating and have to be identified by genomic sequencing.

“Evidence so far, however, is that the Delta strain is already the dominant in Nigeria. We must keep our protective measures in place and increase testing to determine our situation”, he added.

According to him, there are reports of new coronavirus mutations circulating in other countries, a development he said Nigeria shall monitor with all tools available to her to ensure appropriate response.

“We also remain on alert at Points of Entry, including land and sea borders, to confront importation of Covid-19. Several cases have been indeed been identified by Rapid Diagnostic test and taken care of accordingly.

“Regarding vaccines, all States have received doses of AstraZeneca, Moderna and J&J vaccines for the ongoing 2nd phase of the vaccination exercise in all States. The Federal Government has done due diligence to ensure vaccine quality and safety.

“The government has secured nearly 40 million doses of J&J vaccines to be arriving at a rate that NPHCDA will set, to align with their utilization strategy. We shall also surely receive donor doses, so that we do not expect to be impacted by the expected shortfall”, he added.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF and Chairman of the PSC, Mr Boss Mustapha on his part appealed to striking resident doctors to sheathe their swords.

He said Nigeria now has AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson vaccines that the country expect’s Pfizer to be delivered very soon.

“There will be enough vaccines to go round soon. By the second quarter of 2022, we would have received about 52 million doses of the vaccines.

“To ease travels for fully vaccinated Nigerians, we are exploring the principles of reciprocity between Nigeria and other nations. For the time being, Nigerians are advised to always carry their vaccination card details or barcode on their electronic devices for easy access especially for those travelling outside the country.

“The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Aviation will continue to dialogue with the representatives of the UAE to resolve the issue of the Emirates flights between Nigeria and the UAE. The protection of the interest of Nigerians remains our primary focus. The Hon. Minister of Aviation will elaborate on this.

“Compliance with protocols laid down for quarantine to ensure control remains a source of worry to the PSC. The need to review the protocol has become expedient to align with existing global protocols and realities. On this note, the PSC will adopt a sustainable model and policy that will be unveiled soon. To begin with, India has been removed from the list of flagged countries in view of improved situation in that country.

“On the heels of Mr. President’s intervention in the health sector, I want to use this opportunity to appeal to our Health Workers to consider the health situation in our country and call off their strike while Government continues to look into all matters that will improve the system, processes and welfare”, he stated.

Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib said as of 12th September 2021, a total of 4,052,756 eligible persons have received their 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

“This is made up of 2,645,020 persons with the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine and 1,407,736 eligible persons with first dose of Moderna vaccine. A total of 1,692,315 eligible persons are fully vaccinated and we currently have a national average of 70.4% utilization of the 2,000,040 doses of Moderna vaccines we received.

“With the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 globally, we are beginning to see countries instituting vaccine mandates. Some countries have begun asking workers to either present a proof of vaccination or provide weekly COVID-19 PCR negative results in order to be allowed into public offices. In order to end this pandemic, we must achieve enough level of population immunity, that the virus essentially becomes a nuisance and no longer a threat. The only way to achieve this is if eligible persons come out for vaccination and observe the non-pharmaceutical interventions.

“In my last press briefing, I addressed the questions raised around the UK insisting on Nigerians who have been fully vaccinated to isolate upon arrival in the UK. As earlier mentioned, in Nigeria we also require fully vaccinated UK citizens to isolate for seven days despite being fully vaccinated. In diplomatic circles, this is often referred to as the principle of reciprocity.

“Nigeria alongside countries like France and the Netherlands are categorized as amber countries by the UK Government based on criteria such as the number of populations immunized and incidence rates of COVID-19 infection. Individuals from Countries listed as amber countries are required by the UK Government to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival and be quarantined for a few days. Regardless of a vaccine type or vaccination status, if a Nigerian with a Nigerian passport travels to a Country on their green list and spends 14 days there before going to the UK, they would not be quarantined in the UK because they are coming from a green listed country.

“Likewise, if a German or Australian that is currently from their green listed country travels to a country like France, Ghana or Italy which is on their amber list like Nigeria, and such an individual spends 14 days or more in these countries before departing to the UK, such an individual would be made to do a COVID-19 test and quarantined, regardless of their vaccination status. Just like Nigeria, every Country has its own COVID-19 travel rules, protocols and guidelines for travellers coming from other Countries”.