COVID-19 VACCINE: LAGOS HEALTH COMMISSIONER URGES CITIZENS TO GET SECOND JAB FOR COMPLETE PROTECTION
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has tasked citizens who have received the first dose of the Oxford Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine and are due for the second dose, to get their second jab at the vaccination centres where the initial dose was received.
Abayomi, who made the call on Wednesday after receiving his second jab at the Folarin Coker Staff Clinic within the Lagos State Government Secretariat, Alausa-Ikeja, noted that getting the second dose of the vaccine offers full protection against the disease.
He said, “We are encouraging everybody that has had their first dose to come and collect their second dose, so you that you are fully immunised. One dose is not enough to give you the protection that you need to fight off the virus if you get exposed. So, I have come for my second dose now; I have had it and as of today, I am fully immunised.
“From the first consignment of the Oxford Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine we got from the Federal Government, we have administered the first dose of the vaccine to a segment of our population, we are now in the phase of administering the second dose to those that have received the first dose. It’s been almost two weeks since we started the administration of the vaccine and we have been vaccinating across our 88 vaccination centres”, the Commissioner disclosed.
Abayomi explained that with the second jab he received, he is certain that his immunity is built up to reduce his chance of getting ill to the point of complication or death if infected with COVID again.
According to him, there are multiple variants of the virus circulating around the world which the World Health Organisation has reclassified into Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants of COVID.
“The virus is changing and as it changes, it can deceive your immune system so even if you’ve had it before, with the new virus variants that are coming on now, your body may not recognise it as the original COVID and it can therefore make you unwell. So we are saying, if you’ve had the infection before and you’ve had the two doses of the vaccine, at least it gives you a start to fight the virus and stops you from getting sick”, he added.
Highlighting various strategies put in place by the State Government to mitigate a possible third wave of COVID-19 in Lagos, Abayomi stated that the most likely source of the virus that is going to cause the third wave in Lagos or in Nigeria is going to be imported.
His words: “Many countries have been through first, second, third, fourth and even fifth waves, that is the nature of pandemics; you get these waves coming and going as people relax and as variants emerge, then they go round again and infect the population. In Lagos, we have what is called the Third Wave Prevention Strategy and the most likely source of the virus that is going to cause a third wave in Lagos or in Nigeria is going to be imported. So, we have put very tight measures at the airport”.
The Commissioner maintained that anybody coming in from a country with variants of COVID will get mandatory isolation, a test immediately they arrive and another test on day seven, stressing that the Federal and Lagos State Government are going to come down very hard on violators who try to bypass these regulations.
He said, “There are severe sanctions for people who are going to try and avoid the new guidelines that have been established by the Federal Government to stop the importation of COVID-19 into Nigeria which can trigger the third wave”.
“We have picked up some positives and we have isolated them, which means that they cannot spread that virus into the community and that is why we are still enjoying freedom from third-wave but if we relax and do not become as stringent and watchful as we are now, the third wave may come in”, Abayomi stated.
