Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has received a COVID-19 booster shot to further protect himself against COVID-19.
While flagging off the COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign held at the Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan, he called on the people of the state to take advantage of the free service to get vaccinated.
“Well, we are here to flag off the mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Oyo State,” Makinde said. “It is close to two years now when the first case was reported in Nigeria and it subsequently hit us in the state.
“The majority of the people think it would vanish in three or four months but it is now close to two years that we have been battling with it.”
He explained that the flag-off was another logical step taken by the state to curtail the spread of COVID-19, noting that the step was based on data and the scientific position that vaccines were safe in protecting people against the worst effects of the virus.
The governor appreciated the frontline workers, who, according to him, have been working tirelessly for nearly two years, to curtail the virus in the state, assuring them that the government will continue to support them with the resources needed to get the job done.
“From the beginning of the pandemic, we have known that this will be with us for a very long time. I heard the Speaker saying that maybe by this time next year, we would be celebrating a COVID-19-free environment; well, there is nothing God cannot do. But you see, science, logic, and data are still saying that this virus is going to be with us for some time.
“The first flu, the Spanish flu that first occurred in 1916 is still around till now and it is still with us. We only have slight symptoms like sneezing, cold and so on but that flu is a very serious disease in other places. The prayer we should continue to say is that this infection will not claim our lives,” he said.
Makinde called on the people of the state to get vaccinated and give themselves and their loved ones another layer of protection against COVID-19.
He also called on residents who have been fully vaccinated to take the booster shot and always observe COVID-19 safety precautions.
