COVID-19: With Omicron variant, no better time for Nigerians to invest in N95 mask — Expert
Dr Gabriel Adakole, Public Expert, based in the FCT, says with the new COVID-19 Omicron variant on the rise in the country, there’s no better time for Nigerians to invest in an N95 mask.
Adakole said on Friday in Abuja, that at this point, most Nigerians are pros at social distancing, handwashing, and finding sanitizing options that actually smell good.
The expert said that with the spread of highly-contagious COVID-19 variants like Delta and Omicron coinciding with the holidays, keeping one self and their loved ones safe was of the utmost importance.
He advised that one way that Nigerians can lower their risk of transmission and contraction was for them to invest in a trustworthy mask.
“With the COVID-19 cases surging across the world, I am surprised that Nigeria is not saying anything on the mandate of mask wearing and while counties are mandating indoor face coverings, it’s a good time for Nigerians to add more masks to their collection.
“There are different types of face masks around but among the most protective face coverings are the high filtration N95 masks, which the Nigeria Centre For Disease (NCDC) told Nigerians are effective enough to even be used by healthcare workers “but, keep in mind, these are not surgical masks,” he explained.
The expert added that the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was spreading at an alarming rate. He noted that it could soon replace the Delta variant, which at present dominates globally.
He, however, said that little is known about whether currently available vaccines and drugs would be effective against the omicron variant.
“To assess the efficiency of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies, a research team, led by Stefan Pöhlmann and Markus Hoffmann, from the German Primate Center—Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen and colleagues from the Hannover Medical School, the University of Göttingen Medical Center, the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and the German Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, have studied how efficiently the omicron variant is neutralized by antibodies from recovered and vaccinated people. An inhibition by T cells, which are produced after infection, remains to be analyzed,” he said.
Adakole added that these results indicate that several antibodies used to treat COVID-19 would be ineffective against the omicron variant.
“However, they also suggest that a third immunization with the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine (booster) and heterologous immunization may protect well against the omicron variant, which we also have in the country.
“Nigerians need to make use of the available opportunity and get vaccinated while vaccines are still available.
“There are many more positive COVID-19 cases out there, with many Nigerians likely unaware they are infected,” he added.
