Lagos govt says its negotiating with makers of COVID-19 vaccine for immediate supply

The Lagos State government has revealed that it is neck deep in negotiations with manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine in a bid to make it available for residents of the state.

This was confirmed on Saturday by Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who said that the move became necessary following rising cases of patients needing treatments urgently.

Onigbanjo who was responding to claims that the state government is incapable and unwilling to enforce compliance with COVID-19 pandemic protocols in the state, said that Lagos led and still leads nationwide in administering COVID- 19 tests.

He said; “It is correct that Lagos State has the highest number of infections and sadly fatalities from COVID-19 in Nigeria. The State Government itself never shied away from admitting that Lagos is indeed the epicenter of the virus in Nigeria. But is it “business-as-usual”? Most certainly not.

“Since the first index patient was confirmed on 27 February 2020, Lagos State Government has led from the front in tackling the pandemic. It was Lagos State who also first introduced; reduced working hours for all sectors of the economy in the State; directed that all its staff between levels 1-14 should work from home; closed all bars, gyms, lounges and cinemas; restricted restaurants to offering take-out services only; and closed worship centres.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Lagos govt extends ‘work at home’ directive to civil servants by two weeks

“The first lockdown, to contain the pandemic was declared in Lagos on 30 March 2020.

“The first fully equipped isolation centres sprang up in Lagos. At its peak the State had a total bed space of 600 reserved exclusively for COVID-19 patients. The State also led and still leads nationwide in administering COVID- 19 tests.

“As at date we are testing about 3000 persons a day from 60 public and 20 private Sample collection centres, spread out across 57 Local Government and Central Public Health Labs in the state.

“Thousands of people have been successfully treated and discharged from our isolation centres and home based care to date.

“When the second wave started, Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (even while just recovering from being infected with the virus) addressed a press conference on 18 December 2020 and shut down, nightclubs, lounges, concerts and bars.

“A plan to construct three oxygen plants was launched and on the 8th of January 2021 the first installed oxygen plant was commissioned at Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba. This is capable of producing 60 large cylinders a day of high grade medical oxygen.

“The state government is also currently discussing with vaccine manufacturers with a view to making vaccines available to Lagosians,” Onigbanjo concluded.

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