Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Tuesday, received the Covid-19 booster shot for further protection against the ravaging pandemic.
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The governor received the shot while flagging off the Covid-19 mass vaccination campaign in the state, held at the Aleshinloye Market and called on the people of the state to take advantage of the free service to get vaccinated.
He said the flag-off was another logical step taken by the state to curtail the spread of the virus, adding that the step was based on data and the scientific position that the vaccines were safe in protecting people against the worst effects of the virus.
The governor appreciated the frontline workers, who, according to him, have been working tirelessly for nearly two years to curtail the virus in the state, noting that the government would continue to support them with the resources needed to get the job done.
Makinde said: “I want to specially recognise our development partners, because you have given us the vaccines for free and we are also giving it to our people free of charge. This flag-off is just another logical step that we are taking to contain Covid-19 in Oyo State, which is still based on data and science that vaccines are safe in protecting us against the worst effects of the virus. Even the worldwide data supports our position.”
He urged the people of the state to take advantage of the free service to get vaccinated and thereby give themselves and their loved ones another layer of protection against Covid-19, calling on residents who have been fully vaccinated to receive the booster shot and always observe Covid-19 safety precautions.
“I am sure most of us must have read in the news that more than one million doses of the vaccine had to be destroyed in Nigeria because we could not push them out. Well, this is another opportunity to ensure that we mobilise our people and get as many of them vaccinated. We need to reach out to everybody and that is why we have come to an open place like this to seek your support,” Governor Makinde added.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Bode Ladipo, said the event was meant to officially launch the mass vaccination campaign for Covid-19 across the 33 local government areas of the state in order to stem the tide of the virus in Oyo State, explaining that the state has been able to vaccinate over 722,000 persons out of which over 200,000 have been fully vaccinated and tested about 75,000 people, out of which 9,300 tested positive.
Ladipo stated: “Your Excellency, with your leadership since the 21st of March when the task force was put together for the Covid-19, we followed your principle of looking at data, examining science, and basing our discretion on logic and decisions going forward and from there, Oyo State has been able to test about 75,000 people and 9,300 of them were positive.”
He reported that in the last two months there had been an expected increment based on the festivities and the movement of people across borders and boundaries, saying the state has recorded 417 positive cases in the last seven days and 122 cases in the last two days.
“So, Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, what we are doing today is actually part of the effort to stem the tide of Covid-19 in Oyo State. Vaccination is free and it is meant for everybody, it is meant for people that are over the age of 18 years and I can assure you that we have put together a lot of infrastructure that should ensure that the vaccines are delivered at the right time,” Ladipo concluded.
