Omicron Variant: Governor Ifeanyi Okowa Urges Nigerians to Embrace Vaccination
- Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state has urged Nigerians to get vaccinated immediately for them to be safe
- The Delta state governor gave the advise in light of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 the world is battling with
- The Omicron variant labelled by the World Health Organization has since been classified as a "variant of concern"
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Asaba - Delta state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has called on Nigerians to take the COVID-19 vaccines, stressing that vaccination was safe and that no death had been recorded as a result of administration of the vaccine in the country.
Okowa, a trained medical doctor, made the call at his quarterly interaction with journalists on Tuesday, November 30 in Asaba, the Delta state capital.
Source: Facebook
He said that it had become very imperative for Nigerians to embrace vaccines, especially with the Omicron and Delta variants currently ravaging the world, adding that there was no shortage of vaccines in the state and the country.
His words:
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“Deltans and Nigerians are not accessing the vaccines enough; it is safe and many people are not taking advantage of the free vaccines. There has been no single case of death in Nigeria as a result of the vaccine.’’
On the Omicron variant of COVID-19, he advised Nigerians not to panic but to continue to observe necessary pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical prevention protocols.
He said:
“There is a panicky approach to the whole thing and the way countries are placing travel bans on South Africa is not right.
“I don't think it’s the best way to approach this because once you begin to have this level of punishment, when they detect new variants they may not speak out and that would be worse to handle.
“We have not had strong resistance to vaccines and I want to encourage Deltans and Nigerians to take the vaccines.
“There is no shortage of the AstraZeneca and Modena vaccines; we have them in our various health centres designated for COVID-19 vaccines.
“The vaccines are there just that the people are not accessing them enough, so, I urge the media to assist us in educating the people on the need to take the vaccines.’’
On contributory health insurance, the governor said the Delta model was being adopted by other states, adding that over one million enrollees were currently engaged in the scheme.
Nigeria Records Two Cases of Omicron COVID Variant
Recall that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday morning, December 1 confirmed that Nigeria has recorded two cases of the Omicron Covid variant in the country.
This was contained in a press statement issued by the NCDC boss, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa and seen by Legit.ng.
The NCDC, however, stated that the two patients were asymptomatic and contact tracing had begun.
NCDC Reveals Disease Cholera Has Killed More Nigerians than COVID-19 in 2021
Meanwhile, Adetifa has spoken on the need to give equal attention to other diseases apart from COVID-19.
The NCDC boss said Cholera has killed more Nigerians in 2021 than the dreaded COVID-19 which the entire world focuses more on.
He said while cholera has caused over 3,600 deaths in 2021, the total COVID-19 deaths recorded since 2020 stands at 2,977.
Source: Legit.ng
