FG Clears Air On Declaring Lockdown In Nigeria Over COVID-19 Delta Variant

Despite the availability of the Delta variation of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the Federal Government has stated that the country is not at a point when another national lockdown will be contemplated.

Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, announced this on Thursday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja at the weekly ministerial press briefing.

Aside from the immunizations obtained for free, Ehanire stated that the federal government has paid for around 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

He confirmed that the first 176,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had arrived, with the rest arriving in installments.

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), stated that the COVID-19 cases newly sequenced in Nigeria are Delta variations.

According to him, the variation has become the most common in the country.

Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), also spoke, stating that 2.3 percent of Nigerians who are eligible have been vaccinated.

In Nigeria, 179,908 cases have been confirmed as of Thursday morning. There have been 166,213 discharges, with 2,195 deaths reported.