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Lagos Govt warns of imminent 4th wave of covid-19

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The Lagos State Government has issued a warning to residents over an imminent breakout of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was contained in a statement issued by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, on Wednesday.

According to the governor, his administration will embark on a mass vaccination campaign aimed at vaccinating four million residents in Lagos before the end of 2021.

This is necessary to ensure herd immunity as the Yuletide approaches, the statement noted.

Sanwo-Olu noted that residents from 18 years and above were eligible to be fully immunised with the COVID-19 vaccine.

“There is potential for the fourth wave of COVID-19 as our borders would be opened to all people coming into Lagos in December.

“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.

Read also: Lagos govt redeploys eight permanent secretaries (SEE LIST)

“In the 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 four million Lagos residents before the end of December 2021. Once achieved, this will bring the state closer to reaching our promise to vaccinate 30 per cent of our population within one year,” Sanwo-Olu stated.

Governor Sanwo-Olu explained that the mass vaccination campaign would help bolster the State’s response to the emerging threat posed by the pandemic.

He said the joint committee set up by the state government and NPHCDA to oversee the implementation of the campaign would be opening vaccination sites in high traffic locations, as part of the strategies to expand vaccine access in underserved communities.

“Mobile vans would be deployed to move around boundary settlements in order to reach individuals in areas with limited access to health facilities,” he said.

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