Nigeria confirms 131 new infections as FG says COVID-19 vaccines will not be available until next year

Chidi Samuel| The declining numbers of new coronavirus cases in Nigeria continued on Thursday as the country confirmed 131 new cases of the disease.

According to a statement by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Lagos recorded 45 new cases, followed by Kaduna and Plateau with 17 cases, while the FCT recorded 16.

Other states with new infections include, Delta and Niger recorded 6 new infections each, Kwara -5, Oyo -3, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ekiti, Enugu, Osun, and Sokoto 2 cases each, while Bauchi, Ebonyi, Katsina and Rivers confirmed 1 case each.

The new cases now bring the total infections in the country to 56,735, with 48, 092 recoveries and 1, 093 fatalities.

-COVID-19 vaccines will not be available until next year – FG

Meanwhile, the federal government earlier on Thursday cautioned Nigerians not to abandon the COVID-19 safety guidelines as vaccines will not be available until 2021.

Nigeria’s minister of health, Osagie Ehanire who gave the warning at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 media briefing in Abuja, asked the citizens to adhere to the non-pharmaceutical interventions.

“Vaccines will not be available until next year at best. No reliable therapeutics has been confirmed but our country must restart businesses, including travel to allow citizens to earn their livelihood,” he said.

He also appealed to Nigerians to adhere to the protocols aimed at reducing the spread of the virus in the country.

“Compliance with all the recommended measures like wearing your masks, social distancing, avoiding gatherings etc will go a long way to help.”

The minister who also appealed to the striking health workers to call off their industrial actions, noted that the best way to settle industrial disputes is to come to the negotiation table with the Federal Government.

“I also use this opportunity to renew my calls to members of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) to put the plight, safety and well-being of their patients into consideration and to call off the ongoing strike while the differences are being addressed by negotiations.

“It is important to remind ourselves that COVID-19 is real and spreading gradually in some parts of the world as we speak.

“It is risky to believe that it is going away even though it looks as if the figures are reducing here. Some countries are experiencing the so-called second waves with all the complications that go along with this easily spreading disease,” he said.