To achieve herd immunity against the pandemic, the Lagos State government says it is looking at other options for obtaining COVID-19 vaccines.
He made this statement in an interview with reporters on Sunday in Abuja, according to Prof. Akin Abayomi.
As Abayomi put it, “while the first national vaccination target is 60 percent, we in Lagos are looking for vaccines to create full coverage that will be safe.”
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Children and other immuno-compromised individuals who do not meet the normal criteria will also be affected by the slow progress.
In order to speed up the process, we’re looking for ways and means to do so: donor partners, private sector, and advocacy, because it appears that this virus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
On the other hand, only 1% of the state’s population has been immunized against a target of 60%.
You can’t fully protect 60 percent of your population by vaccinating only half of it. The virus can spread within that 40 percent, creating new strains which can then infect those who have been vaccinated.
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Nations now discuss booster shots, whereas Lagos has only been able to reach 1% of its population. the vaccine campaign is critical, as well as preventing future outbreaks,” said the commissioner.
“We want to create a situation where the economy is relatively open so that people can move around and commercial activities can continue,” he said.
Beyond the non-pharmaceutical interventions, it appears that a very robust vaccination strategy is necessary.
Speaking further, the health commissioner stated that Lagos was committed to reaching the 60 percent goal as soon as possible.
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Federal government regulatory agencies provide the necessary guidance and oversight. As a result of our efforts, we hope to expedite the process in any way we can.
A number of opportunities have passed us by. That means we’re looking for another window of opportunity to ramp up our vaccination strategy so that we can use it as a preventative measure against future waves.
“Knowing what this virus is doing and how it changes is the new frontier. As he put it, “If you want to be ahead of the game.”
Covid PCR Test No longer the focus
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing on positivity is no longer the focus, according to Abayomi, but rather attempting to understand the mutations that occur as the virus spreads.
Our human resources, infrastructure, and financial deficits prevent us from easily ramping up.
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Also important, according to him, is understanding how this virus will evolve in the future.
Lagos State, Nigeria’s busiest port of entry, has been equipped with sequencing equipment, according to the commissioner.
As a result of Lagos state, the virus has spread to other parts of the country, he said.
In addition to the importation of variants, we’re also interested in the mutations that occur in our community because we can export variants to other states.
After studying the first three waves, we are already looking at the fourth. There is no doubt that we have figured out what causes the waves, and we know exactly what they are.
On the basis of the characteristics of the first three waves we know that there will be a fourth,” said Abayomi.
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