The federal government has warned that nobody is safe from the second wave of COVID-19, until they are vaccinated.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, stated this during a sensitisation meeting with leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Monday.
Mustapha, who is the chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said, “Unfortunately, Nigeria, like the rest of the world, is now experiencing a more virulent second wave which has increased the number of COVID-19 related deaths from 1173 on November 29 2020 to 1,578 on January 31, 2021. An increase of 34 per cent.
“The arrival of vaccines has however given hope to humanity that a solution had been found. This does not however mean that the NPIs would be discarded. Going forward it shall be NPIs + vaccines for everyone to completely get over the pandemic.
“I wish to make it abundantly clear that nobody is safe around the world until everyone is vaccinated. That is why we are now gathered here today, to sensitise you and seek your inputs on the strategy to be jointly adopted and the role you will play in carrying the message on vaccines to all adherents of the Christian faith.
“As we interact over all these issues and challenges today, I urge us to be frank, innovative and adopt common objectives of collaboration and determination to overcome the pandemic by reaching out to all adherents of our faith on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. Every Christian should be an advocate for the vaccines.”
Earlier, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 685 new cases of the COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 131,242.
The number of cases recorded on Sunday is the least the NCDC has reported in the past four weeks after confirming 576 cases on Jan. 2, 2021.