COVID-19 3rd Wave: Edo Records 4 Deaths 32 New Cases and two Recoveries…govt announced plans to Make Vaccination Compulsory for residence

The third wave of Coronavirus  (COVID-19) pandemic in Edo State has claimed four lives, 32 new cases and two recoveries.

The State COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr. Andrew Obi, disclosed this after the daily virtual meeting of the State COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

According to him, “Edo State, within the last 72 hours, recorded 32 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 recoveries, with 132 active cases currently receiving treatment at various isolation and treatment centres in the state. The 32 new cases were confirmed from the 283 samples collected within the 72-hour time frame.With this, the state government has announced plans to make it compulsory for residents of the state to take the vaccine and present the certificate before accessing areas of large gatherings.
Specifically, it said large gatherings in churches, mosques, banks, wedding or burial receptions among others would no longer be accessed without presenting the vaccine certificate from the second week of September.  
Governor Godwin Obaseki, made the disclosure at the Government House in Benin City while flagging off the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination exercise.
The vaccines available in Edo include Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson with a stern warning from the World Health Organisation (WHO) against the mixing and matching of vaccines of different manufacturers. 
But the third wave of COVID-19, according to Obaseki, is causing devastating effects across the country, hence the need to introduce stiffer measures to reduce the effect. He said the latest reports indicate that 96 per cent of those infected with the Delta variant are those who have not been vaccinated.
“So far, only 1.7 per cent of the 4.7 million population in the state were vaccinated in the first phase of the exercise”, the governor noted, pointing out however, that the target for the second phase is to hit 60 per cent.
He said, “From what we have seen so far, the COVID-19 is here to stay, there may be other waves. We need to find a solution that is why vaccination is very important. For us in Edo, we would push for vaccination to build immunity against the scourge. Our target Is to vaccinate 60 per cent of our population in the next year. 
“From the second week of September 2021, large gatherings will only be accessed by those who have at least taken one dose of the vaccine. From the second week, people will not be allowed to worship centres, event centres, and receptions without showing proof of the vaccination cards. From the middle of September, you can no longer access the banking services if you have not vaccinated.”
The flag-off was witnessed by representatives of security agencies, market women, educational institutions across the state, the organised labour.