Edo State has confirmed the death of three more persons who were not inoculated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, amid ramped up efforts by the government to vaccinate more citizens to protect them and achieve herd immunity against the deadly virus.

The State COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr. Andrew Obi, disclosed this after the daily virtual meeting of the State COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by the State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

Obi said the three new deaths reported from the Stella Obasanjo and Irrua Specialist hospitals, raised the total number of deaths recorded in the third wave of the pandemic in the state to 57.

According to him, “Edo State, in the last 24 hours, recorded three more deaths of persons who have not been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccines, bringing the total mortalities recorded in the third wave of the pandemic in the state to 57.

“Two of the deaths were reported from the Stella Obasanjo Hospital, while the other one was confirmed at the Irrua Specialist Hospital.”

Obi noted that “the state also recorded 17 new cases from the 224 samples collected within the 24-hour timeframe, with 25 recoveries and 535 active cases that are being managed at various treatment and isolation centres within the state.”

The Incident Manager, who decried the rise in the number of infections and deaths in the state, urged all residents in the state to get vaccinated against the virus to stay alive and healthy, as more unvaccinated persons continue to die from the virus.

He further disclosed that the state has so far in the third wave of the pandemic collected 13,945 samples and recorded 1,115 confirmed cases and 523 recoveries, with over 71,420 persons inoculated since the commencement of the second phase vaccination exercise in the state.