Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, says the state runs
the risk of experiencing a fourth wave of the COVID pandemic.
He said this on Wednesday while flagging off a COVID mass
vaccination programme in the state.
The programme aims to vaccinate four million residents
before the end of 2021.
Sanwo-Olu flagged off the campaign, tagged ‘Count Me In! 4
Million Vaccinated Against COVID-19’, on Wednesday at the Civic Centre,
Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Lagos COVID vaccination campaign, which is in
collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency
(NPHCDA), will cover residents who are 18 years and above.
Speaking during the event, Sanwo-Olu said the mass
vaccination campaign is necessary to prevent the “catastrophic” events
witnessed in the previous waves, considering that the state’s borders would be
opened to all during the festive season.
He disclosed that to expand the access to COVID vaccines,
mobile vans would be deployed to reach individuals in underserved communities.
“There is potential
for the fourth wave of COVID-19, as our borders would be opened to all people
coming into Lagos in December,” he said.
“To prevent the catastrophic events we witnessed in the previous
waves, the state has developed a robust vaccination drive, leveraging on both
the strengths we have in the public and private sectors of our healthcare
system.
“In development of our strategy and counter-measures, we
prioritise the protection of human lives and keeping our economy open for
business.
“To mitigate against this potential damage that will further
spread existing variants of COVID-19 in the state, and accelerate efforts
towards herd immunity, the need for a different strategy became a front-burner
issue.
“This is what has
culminated in the campaign tagged ‘Count Me In! 4 million Lagosians Vaccinated
Against COVID-19’ to target the full vaccination of 4 million Lagos residents
before the end of December 2021.
“Once achieved, this will bring the state closer to reaching
our promise to vaccinate 30 percent of our population within one year.”
The Lagos governor said individuals who want to get
vaccinated in approved private facilities will pay an administrative charge of
N6,000.
He added that the state will not force anybody to get the
vaccine, but that his administration wants everyone to take the vaccination as
personal responsibility.
“We have set up
COVID-19 vaccination in all our 205 public primary health centres, 14 of the
state’s second and tertiary hospitals,” he added.
“And we are hoping that this partnership can be implemented
in over 400 private health centres across seven underserved local government
areas in the state.
“Let me re-emphasise that we are not compelling anyone to
get vaccinated. But we want everyone to take it as personal responsibility,
which is highly important.
“What we seek to achieve by this campaign is to ensure there
is access to the vaccines and availability. Then, give people an opportunity to
get vaccinated at centres close to them. This will give nobody a reason not to
get the vaccines.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Lagos, the epicentre of
the pandemic in the country, has recorded 77,723 confirmed COVID-19 cases —
including 58 active cases and 749 deaths.
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