Despite recording 607 new cases of COVID-19 in the first two weeks of the year, Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde says there is no second wave of the virus in the state.
According to Makinde, the data available to the state are not showing a second wave of the virus as the curve was never flattened, explaining that the state tested about 20,000 samples of people who were mostly sick or had direct contact with those who had the virus between March and December 2020 with about 3,000 testing positive.
He stated that the state has equally conducted about 14,000 tests on people including those not showing any symptom based on the NCDC guidelines between early December and January 2021 and that 696 tested positive. In all, he said that the state has conducted more than 34,000 covid-19 tests.
However, the claim by the Governor that the state is not experiencing a second wave might be far-fetched because as at the time he spoke yesterday, the state had recorded 487 new cases in 13 days and 120 new cases were also recorded later in the day bringing the year’s total to 607 cases.
This indicates that the state recorded 13.4 percent of its total cases in 11 months in the last 13 days alone.
With a total of 4546 cases, the state has the fifth-highest figure in the country. 8 people have also lost their live to the virus in the state in 2021.
While speaking on the issue of COVID-19 vaccines, the governor maintained that the 1,800 vaccines allocated to the state by the Federal Government are inadequate, stating that the state will engage manufacturers of Astra-Zeneca Vaccines when finally certified fit for human consumption, as it has been said to be more suitable for the state because of its storage instructions.
“On the issue of vaccines, the Federal Government, from what we read, has allocated 1,800 vaccines for Oyo State. First, in Oyo State, we don’t have a facility to store at minus 70 centigrade. Again, this number is grossly inadequate. If you want to vaccinate 100,000 people out of a population of almost 200 million, it is not going to make any dent. “And Oyo State, which is a population of between 7-12million, 1,800 vaccines are not going to go anywhere. So, we are exploring other means of getting these vaccines to our people.
“I have been advised by the experts that the Astra-Zeneca Vaccine is more suitable for Oyo State due to storage instructions. So, we are opening discussions directly with the manufacturer so that we can get as many as possible for our people once it is certified. For now, the protocol remains the same. Professor Alonge and his team will continue to manage the COVID-19 situation for us but what I will say to everyone is, you have to own your action. I have to own mine action too.”