The Edo State Government has intensified the vaccination of residents against coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state’s 18 local government councils, vaccinating over 32,000 persons with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the first phase of the vaccination exercise.
The state COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr. Andrew Obi, who disclosed this to journalists in Benin City, said the government is ramping efforts to ensure the vaccination of all eligible members of the public.
Urging the elderly, frontline workers and eligible members of the public to avail themselves the opportunity and get inoculated against the deadly virus, Obi said the state plans to vaccinate about 47, 994 persons in the first phase of the vaccination exercise.
He noted that the state, in the last five days, recorded 21 new cases of COVID-19, including seven persons in the state and 14 others from other states that are participating in the National Sports Festival.
Noting that the government is committed to containing the pandemic and ensuring the safety of residents, the Incident Manager said Edo also recorded 11 new recoveries with seven active cases that are being managed at various isolation and treatment centres in the state.
Obi, who urged residents to continue to comply with preventive protocols to ensure that the state finally defeats the pandemic, maintained that surveillance and case management as well as the decontamination of homes and offices of infected persons are ongoing.
Charging residents not to disregard preventive guidelines against the spread of the virus after being inoculated, the Incident Manager added: “We urge everyone to continue to adhere to all the general preventive measures against the virus, including washing our hands frequently with soap under running water or the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer; avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands and avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness.”
