COVID-19 : FG’s allocation of 1,800 vaccines to Oyo grossly inadequate, says Makinde

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Wednesday said that the Federal Government had allocated 1,800 vaccines to the state, out of about 100,000 vaccines procured for the country.
Makinde made the disclosure during a press conference held at the Government House, Agodi in Ibadan, disclosing that the state recorded 696 COVID-19 positive cases out of 13,000 tests from December 2020 to date.
He, however, said that the number of vaccines allocated to the state was grossly inadequate based on the population of between seven and 12 million people.
Makinde said that his administration was exploring other means of getting the vaccine to the people through opening discussion directly with a vaccine manufacturer on how the state could get as many as possible for the people of the state.
The governor also said that the COVID-19 data available in the state was not indicating a second wave as the curve was never flatten.
He said that 20,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted between March and December 2020 with 3,000 results confirmed positive.
The governor said that at inception the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guidelines allowed tests for mostly sick people and people who had direct contact with infected people who had the virus.
He said that the NCDC had since revised those guidelines and made testing available to accommodate more people including those without any symptoms.
“I have always said that all our responses to COVID-19 in Oyo state will be guided by data, science and logic.
“So, as far as Oyo State is concerned; the data we have is not pointing to the second wave as the curve was never flatten.
“Rather we have more people becoming complacent and acting as if the pandemic is over.
“But the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), has continue its work of monitoring and enlightenment.
“The data says COVID-19 is still very much with us, Science is telling us that we can slow down the spread by taking precautions and the logical thing to do is to follow what science dictate.
“We know how difficult 2020 was for a lot of us, so logically we should not do things that will make the situation worse,’’ Makinde advised.
He said that this was not the time for people to let down their guard, stressing “we should not take any of the precautions lightly.
“In the last months, we have unfortunately recorded eight deaths, so even though many persons have mild to moderate symptoms, it is severe for a few.
“And since we do not know who it will be severe on we need to keep our guards up.
“On our part, we are doing everything within our power to provide more resources for the EOC to continue to manage the spread of the disease.
“We are facilitating greater collaboration among the laboratories, the University College Hospital Ibadan and the Olodo Disease Infectious Centre.
“Also , we are carrying out trainings for private clinics/hospitals so that they can follow the right protocols.” Makinde stated.
The governor further revealed that his government would soon sign an MoU with a private company to use its facilities if the need be for those who might need oxygen.
He urged all residents of the state to continue to strictly observe the COVID-19 guidelines, use their nose masks always, wash their hands with soap and water or use alcohol based sanitisers, keep proper social distancing, among others.