Ekiti State Health Commissioner, Dr Oyebanji Filani, said that the state had stepped up sensitisation campaigns targeted at curtailing the spread of COVID-19 across the 16 council areas through drawing residents’ attention to the ongoing second phase COVID-19 vaccination exercise.
Filani said the exercise was as well to remind the people of the need to continue to comply with WHO safety protocols and as well to observe personal and environmental hygiene in view of the suspected cholera cases reported in some areas in Ekiti State.
Filani, spoke on separate occasions at Otun Ekiti in the Moba Council Area on Saturday while addressing traditional rulers and different ethnic communities including the Hausa Community, where he also sensitised the community on cholera outbreak.
The commissioner, who said cholera was another public health issue in the state, disclosed that the three suspected cases in which test results were inconclusive had been taken for further investigations.
He said, “These sensitisation meetings became necessary because Ekiti State has been recording a high number of positive cases of COVID-19 on daily basis since July.”
Filani, who said the government recognised the relevance and important position the monarchs occupied in their various communities, urged them to impress on their people to get vaccinated and as well observe the protocols to prevent the spread of the virus.
He, however, clarified that “the Moderna vaccines currently being administered in the state are for eligible residents who haven’t received any jab of the COVID-19. Anyone who had received the first dose of Astra-Zeneca vaccines should wait for the second dose that would arrive soon.”
Filani charged the Hausa community in Moba Council where there was a report of a suspected case of cholera “to continue to observe personal and environmental hygiene.”
The Oore of Otun, Oba Adekunle Adeagbo, who spoke on behalf of the traditional rulers, praised the state government’s effort to curtail the pandemic and assured that the monarchs would mobilise for the vaccines and also ensure compliance with necessary safety measures in all their domains.
Also, the Hausa community leader in Moba Area, Danjuma Yusuf, assured that all necessary support would be given to the government and their host communities to contain all issues of public health concern.