COVID: Sanwo-Olu warns of ‘potential’ fourth wave, flags off mass vaccination campaign

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, says the state runs the risk of experiencing a fourth wave of the COVID pandemic.

He said this on Wednesday while flagging off a COVID mass vaccination programme in the state.

The programme aims to vaccinate four million residents before the end of 2021.

Sanwo-Olu flagged off the campaign, tagged ‘Count Me In! 4 Million Vaccinated Against COVID-19’, on Wednesday at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Lagos COVID vaccination campaign, which is in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), will cover residents who are 18 years and above.

Speaking during the event, Sanwo-Olu said the mass vaccination campaign is necessary to prevent the “catastrophic” events witnessed in the previous waves, considering that the state’s borders would be opened to all during the festive season.

He disclosed that to expand the access to COVID vaccines, mobile vans would be deployed to reach individuals in underserved communities.

“There is potential for the fourth wave of COVID-19, as our borders would be opened to all people coming into Lagos in December,” he said.

“To prevent the catastrophic events we witnessed in the previous waves, the state has developed a robust vaccination drive, leveraging on both the strengths we have in the public and private sectors of our healthcare system.

“In development of our strategy and counter-measures, we prioritise the protection of human lives and keeping our economy open for business.

“To mitigate against this potential damage that will further spread existing variants of COVID-19 in the state, and accelerate efforts towards herd immunity, the need for a different strategy became a front-burner issue.

“This is what has culminated in the campaign tagged ‘Count Me In! 4 million Lagosians Vaccinated Against COVID-19’ to target the full vaccination of 4 million Lagos residents before the end of December 2021.

“Once achieved, this will bring the state closer to reaching our promise to vaccinate 30 percent of our population within one year.”

The Lagos governor said individuals who want to get vaccinated in approved private facilities will pay an administrative charge of N6,000.

He added that the state will not force anybody to get the vaccine, but that his administration wants everyone to take the vaccination as personal responsibility.

“We have set up COVID-19 vaccination in all our 205 public primary health centres, 14 of the state’s second and tertiary hospitals,” he added.

“And we are hoping that this partnership can be implemented in over 400 private health centres across seven underserved local government areas in the state.

“Let me re-emphasise that we are not compelling anyone to get vaccinated. But we want everyone to take it as personal responsibility, which is highly important.

“What we seek to achieve by this campaign is to ensure there is access to the vaccines and availability. Then, give people an opportunity to get vaccinated at centres close to them. This will give nobody a reason not to get the vaccines.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in the country, has recorded 77,723 confirmed COVID-19 cases — including 58 active cases and 749 deaths.