UCH CMD lauds arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, says it will save more lives

As Nigeria receives 3.94 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the University College Hospital, Ibadan has lauded the historic moment as a significant step in the fight against the coronavirus disease.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, stated this while addressing newsmen in Ibadan on the occasion of his first year in office.

It was reported that Otegbayo assumed office as the eighth CMD of the institution on March 1, 2019.

Otegbayo said that the newly developed vaccines would be critical in the battle against COVID-19, and would help frontline health workers who have worked tirelessly to combat the disease.

“This is a right step in the right direction as it will have positive impact on our frontline workers and doctors.

“What the vaccine does is to make you immune, the frontline doctors are supposed to be protected because they are the ones taking care of the sick.

“All over the world, the frontline workers are prioritised to protect them from being infected by the patients they are treating; so they become resistant and can continue to give adequate care and reduce community transmission of the disease.

“Then everyone will have herd immunity and eventually it will be a disease like malaria; so it is going to have a tremendous impact in the fight against the virus,” he said.

Otegbayo added that the COVID-19 pandemic had contributed to the prevalence of infectious diseases in the hospital.

He said that of the 947 COVID-19 positive patients treated by the hospital since the inception of the outbreak, 494 of them are workers of the hospital.

The UCH chief said that the second wave of the pandemic might be waning based on statistics gathered in the hospital.

“As of Feb. 20, 2021, out of 59 swabs, available results showed seven new positive COVID cases, two are members of staff and five non-staff members.

“A positive testing rate of about 12 per cent compared to 25 per cent, this is less than 50 per cent of what was observed last week.

“It is the lowest positive testing rate so far in 2020 and tells us is that COVID-19 phase 2 is going down.

“Meanwhile, UCH has managed 947 COVID-19 positive patients either as in patients or in-home care during the pandemic; 494 staff members are involved and 453 non-staff members.

“We have not recorded any mortality as a result of COVID-19 among our staff members,” he said