COVID-19: Don’t be complacent, vaccines won’t come soon – FG warns

The federal government has warned Nigerians against complacency in containing the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, saying the vaccines against the virus may not arrive in the country very soon. The Minister of State, Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) […]

The federal government has warned Nigerians against complacency in containing the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, saying the vaccines against the virus may not arrive in the country very soon.

The Minister of State, Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

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Mamora, represented by the Director, Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Adebimpe Adebiyi, said that though government is working very hard to get vaccines for the people, it may not come soon enough.

“Therefore, we need to be alive to get the vaccines when they come.

“I have brought this up to underscore the importance of compliance with non-pharmaceutical measures as advised to reduce transmissibility of the virus,” Dr Adebiyi said.

She added that as of Wednesday, new cases recorded were 1,354 with one death recorded while the total number of cases tested is 1,004,915.

“Number of confirmed cases is 94,369. Active cases stand at 15,764. Discharged cases till date are 77,299. Number of deaths till date is 1,324 with case fatality rate of 1.4 percent.

“The federal government is determined to ensure morbidity due to COVID-19 is reduced to the barest minimum while improving on the fatality rate.

“Appropriate measures are being taken to achieve these objectives,” she said.

Adebiyi said that a second phase assessment of the isolation and treatment centres country-wide to verify challenges is to be carried out immediately to enable government to provide appropriate intervention measures required to strengthen the centres.

“We continue to appeal to states to increase testing and contact tracing.

“The cooperation of the states with the federal authorities is critical to our collective objective of defeating COVID-19,” she added.