COVID-19 vaccine: It’ll take three years to achieve target if… -Sanwo-Olu

 

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said that it would take three years for Lagos State to achieve the desired COVID-19 immunity among residents unless the speed of vaccination increased.

 

He said this in a statement on Monday, where he also detailed how the State Government had expanded access to vaccines since the vaccination programme began in March and the State’s projection to protect its residents and environment.

 

The Governor spoke at the 2021 Global Citizen Live Concert held at Fela’s Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, according to the statement.

 

Audiences in 11 cities across the world, including Paris, Seoul, London, Sidney, New York and Los Angeles, were said to witness the live event held in honour of frontline and essential workers in the battle against the global pandemic.

 

A-list Nigerian musical artistes that performed live during the international concert included Femi Kuti, Davido, Tiwa Savage and Made Kuti, among others.

 

As the epicentre of the pandemic outbreak, Sanwo-Olu said Lagos had pursued a radical vaccination programme, which led to the administration of 16,000 jabs of vaccines daily.

This, the Governor said, is a far cry from what was projected in achieving herd immunity.

 

Sanwo-Olu disclosed that 405,000 residents had received first doses of AstraZeneca, while 289,000 persons returned for their second doses. The State, he said, administered 230,000 first shots of Moderna to raise the vaccinated population to about 1.2 per cent within five months.

 

He said: “Our vaccination rate is far below the minimum target of 60 per cent recommended by the World Health Organisation (W.H.O) per city population. At the current rate, it would take about three years to achieve our herd immunity target. We cannot continue at this speed if we seriously want to beat this virus.

 

“To safely achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, a substantial proportion of our population would need to be vaccinated to lower the overall amount of virus able to spread in the whole population. One of the objectives of attaining herd immunity is to prevent mutations from emerging leading to more aggressive strains. It is important that Lagos achieves herd immunity at the same time with all countries together.”

 

The Governor urged Nigerians to continue to be law-abiding and comply with the travel guidelines stipulated by the Presidential Steering Committee to prevent the importation of new variants.