The Federal Government has disclosed that total lockdown will be a last resort in its strategy to contain spread of Delta variant of COVID-19 in the country amid surge in cases nationwide.
This was disclosed on Thursday by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, during a weekly ministerial press briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
On Wednesday, Nigeria had recorded 790 cases of new COVID-19 infections, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The figure was the highest in about six months. The recent surge in infections has been partly attributed to the Delta variant, which is believed to be more contagious and deadlier.
Ehanire asserted that the federal government has paid for about 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, apart from the vaccines sourced free of charge.
176,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have already been received, while the rest will come in batches, the Minister said.
He assured that the majority of vaccines used in the country will be bought by the government rather than depending on those freely donated by other countries.
The cases of COVID-19 recently sequenced in Nigeria are Delta variants, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said at the briefing, noting that the variant has become the most dominant variant in the country.
Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), also pointed out that 2.3 percent of eligible Nigerians have been vaccinated.
