By Bolaji OGUNDELE, and Moses EMORINKEN, Abuja
AS political party activities get more intense, the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 has advised against states, the electoral bodies and parties to ensure strict compliance to anti-COVID-19 instructions.
In a statement issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the PSC, Mr Boss Mustapha, the committee noted that political rallies and other mass congregations are super spreaders of the virus and advised that caution be applied.
He categorically addressed the states, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the various State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) and political parties to discourage uncontrolled gatherings by emphasising and enforcing the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during political activities.
“Following the recent confirmation of more cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in several states and the continued rising number of infections and hospitalization across the country, the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC), has called on all political parties, State governments, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC) to ensure strict compliance to the COVID-19 protocols in the conduct of all political events in the country.
“Political mass gatherings serve as super-spreader events for the propagation of COVID-19 infection in our communities. Such events must be carefully controlled to ensure maximum public safety in terms of risk of transmitting the infection among the vulnerable population.
“The PSC wishes to reiterate the significance of the publicized INEC policy on the conduct of political events and the Code of Conduct for Voters and Political Parties within the context of COVID-19.
“The PSC therefore cautions all political parties to institute public health and social measures in all locations where political events will occur. These measures include:
“Mandatory use of face mask for everyone attending these political events. Persons without face masks should not be allowed access to the venues.
“Hand hygiene facilities including soap and water/ hand sanitisers should be made available for people before gaining access to the venues.
“Enclosed venues should be adequately ventilated and must not exceed 50% of venue capacity (minimum of 2 metres should be observed among people at the gathering).
“If essential, multiple locations or time-slotting should be used with appropriate numbers of people to enable adequate physical distancing in each gathering per time.
“The PSC calls upon all political parties, INEC and SIECs to ensure and enforce compliance to the extent possible of these provisions and other safety measures to protect the Nigerian population”, the statement said.
The Federal Government yesterday disclosed that the country is set to receive about 4 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine produced by Rovi Pharma Madrid, Spain, in less than 72 hours.
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Speaking during an interview on NTA, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said: “In less than 72 hours, Nigeria will be receiving up to 4 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and we are excited that this will be an opportunity for us to advance the protection of Nigerians against the COVID-19 virus, especially the Delta variant of the virus.
“We have been preparing for quite a long time. Some three months ago, we had no clue that we were going to receive either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine.
“The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) went ahead and obtained approval to procure up to 60 ultra-cold chain units. So, all across the land, we have now started to install all these equipment, so that we will be able to keep these vaccines at the right temperature.
“Recall that in some of the interviews we have had, we said that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines actually require ultra-cold temperatures that range from -25 to -50 for the Moderna, and as far as Pfizer is concerned, it is -80 degree Celsius.
“We now have a situation where all across the states, we do have these ultra cold chain equipment, and we can store these vaccines and they will be ready for administration as soon as next week.
“We are also going to be having additional vaccines through the COVAX facility. We are getting additional Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines. We are also going to be getting the J&J vaccine by September.
“We are ready, and we are going to be leveraging the experiences that we have had from the first phase to now roll out very smoothly. I have already started getting calls from Governors, who are really keen to make sure that Nigerians get the vaccines.”
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