FG: Coronavirus Vaccines Will Be Ready Next Year

The Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire, has said that COVID-19 vaccines will not be ready until 2021.

The minister disclosed this during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday, adding that despite the unavailability of the vaccine, the country "must restart business."

He said, “Vaccines will not be available until next year at best. No reliable therapeutics has (sic) been confirmed but our country must restart businesses, including travel to allow citizens to earn their livelihood.

“Compliance with all the recommended measures like wearing your masks, social distancing, avoiding gatherings, etc will go a long way to help.”

He also called on the striking doctors to put their strike on pause and "put the plight, safety and well-being" of the people "into consideration."

Ehanire said, “I also use this opportunity to renew my calls to members of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) to put the plight, safety, and well-being of their patients into consideration and to call off the ongoing strike while the differences are being addressed by negotiations.

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“It is important to remind ourselves that COVID-19 is real and spreading gradually in some parts of the world as we speak.

“It is risky to believe that it is going away even though it looks as if the figures are reducing here. Some countries are experiencing the so-called second waves with all the complications that go along with this easily spreading disease.”