From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Fear and anxiety are gradually crippling back into the socio-economic lives of Nigerians. This was because of the news of the third wave of COVID-19 recently confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO), and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as well as other related agencies of government. 
This has, consequently, reawakened the already dying hygienic practices of Nigerians which sunk into their consciousness at the peak of the first wave of Coronavirus pandemic which started in Nigeria with the index case in March 2020.
The third wave has, undoubtedly, visited with different variant, the Delta variant. The story of the third wave has again triggered another round of rumours of possible re-introduction of restriction measures as was the case during the first and second wave of the pandemic.
Lagos State has obviously taken the lead in this regard with the announcement of indefinite closure of University of Lagos (UniLag) campuses over confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the school campus.
When the first wave of the disease hit Nigeria in March 2020, it took many people by surprise as they were unprepared for such huge pandemic. High and low profile deaths were recorded at the peak of the pandemic which gave credence to the reality of the disease in Nigeria.
The Federal Government responded through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 led by the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, with several measures introduced to help contain the devastating effects of the pandemic.
National lockdown was announced shortly after it was confirmed that the situation has got to the level of community transmission. Confirmed cases and deaths were on the daily rise. Undoubtedly, the national lockdown had devastating effect on the socio-economic life of the people and the country. Big companies and SMEs were badly affected, leading to massive losses of jobs.
Weeks after, the restrictions were lifted while campaign for regular handwashing and use of hand sanitizers, physical distancing and other hygienic measures continued using reliable and trusted voices and individuals in the society.
However, there was respite when the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the Emergency Use Listing of some COVID-19 vaccines after they were confirmed to be effective against the disease.
COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria
On Tuesday, March 2, this year, Nigeria took delivery of four million doses of the AstraZeneca (India) COVID-19 vaccine after several “delays” and shift in the arrival date, due to mainly logistics and other unforeseen circumstances.
Unlike Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that is administered once, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is administered twice within about eight to 10 weeks intervals.
GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), with the help UNICEF were said to had faciliated the procurement and shipping of the vaccine to Nigeria.
But prior to that, NPHCDA struggled to neutralize the fears and concerns that Nigeria doesn’t have the capacity to store the vaccine to retain its potency with the tour of newly installed three Ultra Cold Chain (UCC) machines with storage capacity of 2, 100 litres of the COVID-19 vaccines, alongside journalists and other stakeholders on January 19 this year.
On Friday, March 5, the vaccination exercise was flagged off in Abuja, after the National Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had certified the vaccine safe for use in the country.
A brief ceremony to herald the commencement of the exercise was held at the Trauma Centre, National Hospital, Abuja, with impressive representation of the officials of the Federal Government and other stakeholders.
On that day, Dr. Cyprian Ngong, a family Physician, Senior Registrar at National Hospital, Abuja, was administered the first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, marking the historic commencement of COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria.
NPHCDA Executive Director, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, administered the vaccine to Dr. Ngong, who was deeply appreciated for giving his best, professionally, to COVID-19 patients at one of the isolation centres in Abuja.
Hence the first phase of the vaccination continued across designated areas across the country. As at June 6, when the administration of the first dose of vaccines ended, data from NPHCDA indicated that 1,966,128 clients were vaccinated with Lagos State leading with 313, 433 clients vaccinated, while FCT, Kano and Kaduna states followed with 132,483; 95,963; 92,999 people vaccinated, respectively.
Second wave
In mid December 2020 and January 2021, Nigeria had another surge in COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths, perhaps, due to Christmas season. The situation was regarded as the second wave of the pandemic.
As expected, palpable fear and anxiety crept in again. Rumours of another round of lockdown gathered momentum, but the PTF officials were forced to dispel the rumours of imminent lockdown. Rather, they asked Nigerians to rekindle the spirit of non-pharmaceutical measures already highlighted against the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, data from the dashboard of the vaccination exercise domiciled at the NPHCDA indicated that Nigeria has successfully utilized 3,938,945 doses of Astrazeneca vaccines across 36 states and FCT, representing 98 per cent utilization of the 4,024,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine it received from COVAX facility in March 2021.
This comprises 2,534,205 people who have been vaccinated for first dose, and 1,404,205 who received their second dose of the vaccine, meaning that all vaccines given to Nigeria in this first phase has been exhausted.
Third wave
On June 10, WHO made a prediction via a press statement that Africa was about to experience the third wave of COVID-19 because of certain actions being taken by the people and the government.
WHO was particularly concerned that 47 of Africa’s 54 countries (nearly 90 per cent) could miss the September target of vaccinating 10 per cent of its people because vaccines are increasingly getting scarce, while confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa are rising for the third week running.
It said that Africa has recorded a 43 per cent week-on-week rise in COVID-19 deaths, as hospital admissions increase rapidly and countries face shortages in oxygen and intensive care beds.
It confirmed that fatalities increased to 6, 273 in the week ending July 11, 2021 from 4, 384 deaths in the previous week. It stated that Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia accounted for 83 per cent of the new deaths recorded in the past week. The continent’s case fatality rate, which is the proportion of deaths among confirmed cases, currently stands at 2.6 per cent against the global average of 2.2 per cent.
It added that hospital admissions in around 10 countries have increased rapidly, and at least, six countries are facing shortages of intensive care unit beds, while demand for medical oxygen has spiked, and is now estimated to be 50 per cent higher than at the same time in 2020, yet supply has not moved up.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said the situation calls for concerted efforts from all community and political leaders to change the trajectory.
Meanwhile, NCDC has confirmed that Nigeria is currently experiencing the third wave of COVID-19 as evident in the rise in confirmed cases and deaths.
States have also been put on red alert to respond to the possible escalation of the cases. Lagos, FCT and some other states have taken measures to control surge in the cases.
With 48 new cases confirmed on Wednesday July 14, Nigeria now has 168, 915 confirmed cases of COVID-19; while 164, 652 people have been treated, recovered and discharged. Regrettably, 2,125 deaths have been recorded across the country.
Meanwhile, a multi-sectoral National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC) has been activated by NCDC to continue the coordination of the national response activities.
Delta variant
On July 8, the NCDC detected a confirmed case with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2. The variant was detected in a traveller to Nigeria, following the routine travel test required of all international travellers and genomic sequencing at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory, Abuja.
The Delta variant is recognised by WHO as a variant of concern, given its increased transmissibility. The variant has been detected in over 90 countries and is expected to spread to more countries.
The variant has also been linked to a surge in cases in countries where it is the dominant strain in circulation. There are ongoing studies to understand the impact of the variant on existing vaccines and therapeutics.
As part of Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, NCDC said it has been working with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), African Centre for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), and other laboratories within the national network, to carry out genomic sequencing.
This, it said, was to enable the detection of variants of concern, and initiate response activities, adding that data on variants from Nigeria have been published on GISAID, a global mechanism for sharing sequencing data.
Federal Government through the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) has initiated several measures to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19, and this includes the introduction of travel restrictions from countries where there is a surge in cases associated with widespread prevalence of variants of concern.
The national travel protocol which includes compulsory seven-day self-isolation and repeat test on the seventh day after arrival, are in place to reduce the risk of spread of the virus. It is very important that this is strictly adhered to, to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.
Given the high transmissibility of the Delta variant and following its detection in Nigeria, NCDC urges all Nigerians to ensure strict adherence to public health and social measures in place.
Lagos State government has threatened severe sanctions to any one aiding the spread of the disease in the state. He, thus appealed to religious centres and the social events to beware of dangers ahead because of the third wave.
It has announced the shutdown of UNILAG campuses and other measures to contain the community transmission of virus.
Meanwhile, the Director General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, confirmed that Nigeria has recorded low number of COVID-19 cases in the last eight weeks, “but it’s incredibly important that we do not forget to be careful and strictly adhere to safety measures.
“Please protect yourselves and the people you love by adhering to the known public health and social measures, getting vaccinated if you are eligible and getting tested if you have symptoms”.
Stakeholder’s reaction
President, National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, was unhappy that Nigerians have dropped their consciousness about the disease, and no longer adhere to the non-pharmaceutical measures.
“People no longer use the facemask and other hygienic measures that was taken seriously during the peak of the pandemic. Many people now believe that COVID-19 is a scam. I can tell you that it’s not true. COVID-19 is real and it’s here in Nigeria. We may have been enjoying God’s grace but we shouldn’t take it for granted.”
To this end, Dr. Uyi, insisted that mass advocacy and enlightenment remains the way out. People at the grassroots should be targeted with messages in the language they understand. Besides that, urban dwellers should also be included in the enlightenment programme.
“Few weeks ago, we lost a senior Registrar at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital to COVID-19. He contracted the virus and died shortly after that from the complications, leaving his family and loved ones behind,” he said.
He, however, appreciated the effort of the Federal Government and Lagos State government in response to the third wave of the disease, particularly the shutting down of University of Lagos (UNILAG), suggesting that churches and schools should take more precautionary measures against the third wave of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the immediate past President of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Francis Faduyile, insisted that the way out is to continue the way of non-pharmaceutical measures already highlighted by the people involved in the response to COVID-19.
“Obviously, people are getting relaxed as regards the preventive measures while more lives are being lost to COVID-19. The preventive measures should be revived as it’s not yet Uhuru for us as regards COVID-19. The major challenge is that people don’t trust the government anymore and that had been the challenge sorrounding the advocacy on the COVID-19.”
He hinted that there could be more waves of the disease going by the way the virus is changing its operations in the human body.
Head of Risk Communications, NCDC, Dr Yahya Disu, stated in a television interview, recently, that the third wave that came with Delta variant could be more devastating because of the high transmissibilty of the variant.
He maintained that non-pharmaceutical measures, notably, regular hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, and other hygienic practices remain the best way to protect oneself from the disease.