Edo govt urges vaccinations as COVID-19 infections rise to 1,098, with 54 deaths

The Edo state government has said that unvaccinated persons account for over 98.7 per cent of deaths recorded in the state in the third wave of the pandemic, with the total number of mortalities reaching 54.

The state COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr Andrew Obi made the disclosure at the daily virtual meeting of the State COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by Gov. Godwin Obaseki, on Wednesday, in Benin.

“Edo State, in the last 24 hours, recorded one more COVID-19-related death, 63 new confirmed cases, 54 recoveries and 546 active cases that are being managed at various treatment and isolation centres across the state”, he said.

He added that the state recorded the death of another person, who had not taken the jab as the state’s tally of new infections spiral to 63.

Obi, who decried the rise in the number of infections and deaths in the state, urging residents in the state to get vaccinated against the virus to stay alive and healthy, as more unvaccinated persons continued to die from the virus.

Reassuring on the government’s commitment to containing the pandemic and protecting Edo citizens, the Incident Manager said the state had vaccinated over 68,533 persons since the commencement of the second phase vaccination exercise.

So far, he said, 56,482 persons had been vaccinated with Moderna, while 12,051 others took the AstraZeneca vaccine.

According to him, the state has so far in the third wave of the pandemic collected 13,721 samples and recorded 1,098 confirmed cases with 498 recoveries.

Obi urged residents, who were yet to receive their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to come out for the second dose in order to get full protection against the virus, while others who had not been vaccinated were encouraged to come out and get the vaccinated.

He added that the state government had intensified the vaccination of citizens across the 18 local government areas, urging those who had not been vaccinated to do so in order to remain healthy and protected against the deadly virus, saying, “the vaccines are safe, free and effective.”