• Obaseki vows to protect citizens as state vaccinates 28,000
• CAN urges restraint on the planned restriction of worship centres
Edo State has confirmed the death of 13 persons who were not vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic in spite of the state government’s attempt to inoculate the citizens against the virus.
Incident Manager of the State COVID-19 Task Force, Dr. Andrew Obi, disclosed this after its daily virtual meeting presided over by Governor Godwin Obaseki.
He said the government had intensified the vaccination of citizens in Edo communities, adding that over 28, 000 persons have so far been vaccinated since the commencement of the second vaccination exercise.
Obi, who said that all 13 deaths recorded in the third wave of the virus were unvaccinated persons, restated the need for all residents to get inoculated with the vaccines to remain safe and healthy.
This followed as Obaseki, yesterday, stressed that the state government might be forced to implement a lockdown due to rising infections and deaths from the Delta variant of the pandemic.
He said this was necessary if the people continue to disobey the directives for vaccination and compliance with the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) to contain the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in the state.
He made the remark in Benin City at the daily virtual meeting of the COVID-19 Task Force, stressing that the government’s overriding concern remained the safety and health of its citizens.
He was reacting to an order of the High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, directing the state government to maintain the status quo on the compulsory vaccination of its citizens.
In a statement endorsed by the governor, he said: “To the best of our knowledge, the order is at best speculative and pre-emptive as the scheduled date for the commencement of the enforcement of the directive was slated for the second week of September 2021.
MEANWHILE, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the Edo State government to exercise restraint in its plan to bar people without evidence of vaccination from entering Churches, Mosques, and event centres beginning from this month.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by President of CAN, Reverend Samson Ayokunle, the group noted that although the association was in support of vaccination, vaccination should depend on individual choice, adding that forcing people to get vaccinated constituted a violation of their fundamental right.
He, therefore, canvassed improved sustainable public enlightenment, synergy, and strategy in managing the situation.
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