COVID-19 fourth wave imminent, Lagos commissioner warns

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has raised the alarm over the imminent fourth wave of the COVID-19 in Nigeria.

Abayomi, at a briefing on Friday, said passengers coming into the country from high-burdened countries may likely increase the spread of the virus.

He said, “Many Nigerians staying abroad will be returning home to celebrate Christmas with their families. Most of these people will be coming from countries where there is a heavy burden of COVID-19 and where we know the virus is changing and mutating.

“The potential drivers of the fourth wave in Lagos and Nigeria are passengers arriving, especially from heavy-burdened countries in Europe and the United States into Lagos. 86 percent of all inbound flights into Nigeria come through Lagos.

“It is only inevitable that if passengers are traveling in large numbers from these countries where they are about to experience a fourth and fifth wave, we should expect some activities in Lagos as a result of these movements. At the current rate of the response across the country, we are likely going to encounter a fourth wave of the COVID19 pandemic in December 2021.”

The commissioner lamented the low vaccination rate in Nigeria, saying many countries had vaccinated more than 50 percent of their eligible populations.

x“The other problem we have in Lagos and Nigeria is that our rate of vaccinations has been quite low; it is just below three percent, whereas our target should be over 40 percent. Many countries around the world have exceeded 50 percent vaccination of eligible populations.

“At the current rate of the response across the country, we are likely going to encounter a fourth wave of the COVID19 pandemic in December 2021. Lagos State has only vaccinated about 2.6 percent of its population, leaving it susceptible to a fourth wave. Fully vaccinated people with a vaccine breakthrough infection are less likely to develop serious illness than those who are unvaccinated and get COVID-19

“About 360 health facilities have so far been identified for the administration of the vaccines in the next phase of Lagos State’s vaccination campaign. Of this number, 225 are public facilities, while 135 are private facilities,” he said.