As the surging wave of the new Omicron variant of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create new anxieties across geo-political zones globally, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has canvassed the adoption of a multi pronged approach by the government to further strengthen Nigeria’s response to the pandemic, especially in view of the latest discovered variant.
In a statement issued by the President of the Chamber, Asiwaju (Dr.) Michael Olawale-Cole, the leading organized private sector (OPS) group in Nigeria noted that the discovery of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus in late November reawakened the concerns of many nations about possible spikes in infection and death rates with many governments adopting different strategies in managing the likely spread of Omicron infections.
These include, travel bans imposed on outbound travelers from Nigeria by some countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The LCCI recalled that the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had hinted of a possible fourth wave of infections from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country due to the latest discovery of the Omicron variant , noting that before the discovery of the Omicron variant, the Lagos State Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi had at a press conference on 19th November also raised the alarm of an imminent 4th wave due to the expected increase in inbound travel into Lagos over the yuletide season.
The OPS group noted that developing countries had suffered from a lack of access to vaccines, vaccine hesitancy and a weak pharmaceutical manufacturing base despite the WHO and other experts’ confirmation that the most potent protection against the COVID-19 virus is vaccination.
Specifically, it cited recent statistics to justify its recommendations for a new approach to manage the pandemic in the country.
For instance, the Chamber stated that from Our World in Data indicate that as of 2nd December, the number of vaccines doses administered in Nigeria was 10.9million, translating to about 1.8percent of the Nigerian population. South Africa as at 5th December has administered about 26.3million (about 25percent of the population), Kenya has administered about 7.58 million (5.5percent of the population). Ghana’s vaccination statistics for total doses given stood at 3.5 million, translating to about 2.7 percent of the population to
In addition, it disclosed that total vaccination in Africa stood at 246.05million as of that date. In comparison with the developed economies, the United Kingdom has administered 116.95 million jabs (64 percent), the United States of America 468.34million (almost twice the number for the whole of Africa and about 43 percent of their population), Russia 128.45million (51 percent), while the world’s second most populated country – India has administered 1.26billion vaccines (59 percent).
The LCCI further clarified: “We are obviously lagging behind our peers. While we agree with the Federal Government that the travel bans imposed on Nigeria are knee-jerk reactions, the Lagos Chamber wishes to recommend to the Federal Government measures to sustainably manage the Omicron strain.
“We wish to emphasize that the Federal Government must take this pandemic as an opportunity to make sustainable changes and improvements in the Nigerian Healthcare sector and accelerate progress towards the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC)”, it added.
On how best to manage the pandemic in the face of current development, the Chamber recommended that in the short term, considering Nigeria’s low vaccination coverage, that the Federal Government should develop and deploy strategies, which should address both the supply and demand-side challenges to vaccination, to get more citizens vaccinated.
On the supply side, it also advocated the need to have constructive engagement directly with vaccine manufacturers and indirectly through the COVAX facility while on the demand side, there is a need to continuously educate citizens on the safety of vaccines and the importance of being vaccinated.
It also charged the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to conduct quick studies on the new variant and advise the government on the next steps of containment.
This is even as it recommended that the government needed to clamp down on any existing vaccine card racketeers who issue fake vaccination cards to outbound travelers from Nigeria to developed countries as any trace of fake vaccination certificates to Nigeria is damaging her international reputation.
Similarly, the Chamber advocated the need by government to create an intelligence monitoring mechanism to check the utilization of funds allocated to Covid-19 interventions.
According to the OPS group, in the medium to long term, the government should provide the necessary support and enabling environment for the private sector to invest heavily in the manufacture of vaccines that can meet our domestic demand and for export, stressing that in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), this has the potential to be a major source to earn foreign exchange.
It also urged Nigerians to increase compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols, present themselves for vaccination, obey all international travel protocols and work towards a safer Nigeria to avoid any consideration of lockdown or restrictions that could disrupt economic activities.
While celebrating the positive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recorded all through the three quarters of this year, the OPS group noted that recovery of the economy from the impact of COVID-19 in 2020 was still fragile.
It, therefore, advised the government to do everything in its power to sustain the positive growth trajectory towards an inclusive and sustainable growth rate.
Warning that any imposition of lockdown as a measure to contain and manage the spread of the virus should be avoided at all cost, the LCCI maintained that Nigeria needed a long-term containment strategy and public health action plan to manage epidemics and pandemics without having to lock down the economy.
