COVID-19

This study determined the perceived effect of covid-19 on SME in Ovia North-East LGA of Edo State. Four research questions were raised to guide the study and one hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised of 2250 registered SMEs in Ovia North-East Local
Government Area of Edo State. The sample size was 79 confidential secretaries in University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State. The sample size of the study comprised of 50 registered SME owners and managers in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample the selected 50 registered SMEs. The instrument used for data collection for this study was a structured questionnaire titled “Perceived Effect of COVID- 19 on small and Medium Scale Questionnaire (PECOVIDSMEQ)”. It was however subjected to
face validity by the researcher’s supervisor and one other expert in the Department of Vocational and Technical Education. The internal consistency method was employed by using the Cronbach alpha formula and a coefficient of 0.98 was obtained. The study revealed that covid-19 affect Small and Medium Scale businesses, thus impacting their income, demand of products, payment of salaries of workers as well as repayment of loan and rents. The study concluded that covid-19 principally affect Small and Medium Scale businesses. It was recommended among others that government at all levels should provide adequately targeted stimulus to all affected SMEs. This can be done through the disbursement of cash stipend to the most vulnerable SMEs.

Background: In hospital practice, the roles of pharmacists as assets are very significant in achieving the overall goals of the hospital which is provision of humanistic, economical and clinical outcomes. Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the role of hospital pharmacist during the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Method: The study was conducted on pharmacists practicing in either government or private owned hospitals within Benin-City, Edo state. Descriptive survey design was used for the study and 3 research questions was developed for the study. Random sampling method was used. The instrument used for collection of data was a structured questionnaire.
Key findings: Total 180 hospital pharmacist were involved in the study. This study highlights the various roles and pharmaceutical care services provided and implemented by pharmacists
during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Pharmaceutical care services like patient education and counselling, social distancing, wearing of mask, providing information, addressing medication shortages, teleconsultation, medication review, optimizing medication regimen, adverse drug reaction monitoringand addressing the medication-related problems are being delivered by the pharmacists in this ongoing pandemic. Conclusion: All the studies described the roles and responsibilities of the pharmacists duringCOVID-19 in Nigeria. This pandemic adversity has opened up new avenues for the hospital pharmacists which have broadened their scope as the member of multidisciplinary healthcare team. Pharmacists have to overcome the unforeseen barriers and challenges and continue providing need based pharmaceutical care services.

The aim of this study was examine the impact of Covid-19 on small and medium scale enterprise in Edo State. Four research questions were raised to guide this study. What extent does the COVID-19 pandemic impact SMEs in Edo state? To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted patronage of small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs) in Edo State? To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the availability of workers in small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs) in Edo State? To what level has the
COVID-19 pandemic impacted the sales of goods of small and medium
scale enterprise (SMEs) in Edo state?
A descriptive survey research was employed for this study. The population of the study consist of all the small and medium scale enterprise in Egor local government area of Edo State. A sample of 100 employees were randomly selected from 20 different business enterprise from the population. Questionnaire was the instrument used to elicit information from the respondents. The data collected was analysed using simple percentages. In order to ascertain the reliability of the instrument, it was administered to
hundred (100) employees selected from similar status as those in those used in the study however after the administration of the 100 questionnaire the data collected was analysed. From the findings of this study it was seen that the Covid-19 pandemic
impacted on small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs) in Edo State leading to loss of job to some workers. It was also seen that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted patronage of small and medium scale enterprise in Edo State. Also the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the sales of goods which led to a fall in revenue and resulted in a low profit ratio. So the recommendation includes, the government should invest more into small and medium scale business to ensure their survival during difficult times. Also the small and medium scale enterprise owners should identify and focus on their most valuable products and services and eliminate everything else.

Vaccines remain one of the most successful and cost-effective measures for combating COVID-19. However, vaccine hesitancy which refers to delay in acceptance of vaccination despite availability of vaccination services (MacDonald NE and SAGE working group, 2015), could pose a serious problem for COVID-19 prevention and control. Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the level of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among staff of the institution and factors associated with it. Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional retrospective study. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was shared to the staff in their various offices. The outcome measures were participants’ demographics, participants’ knowledge of the disease, and of course the proportion of participants already vaccinated, vaccine hesitancy rates and reasons for this hesitancy. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and Minitab version 19. Bivariate analysis was performed by the chi-square test, and statistical significance was accepted when p-value is < 0.05. Results: Only 140 of the study responses were analyzed. Results showed that only 42, representing just 30% of the surveyed participants have been vaccinated, whereas, 98 participants representing 70% of the study respondents have not been vaccinated/ hesitant to get vaccinated. Vaccine safety concerns (31.4%), vaccine effectiveness (27.1%) and availability (15.7%) major of their hesitancy towards getting vaccinated. Nature of job (whether academic or non-academic) with p=0.032, years of experience with p=0.004, and educational level with p=0.002 may have significantly influence participants decisions towards the vaccine. Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is high among staff of the University of Benin, and this is attributable to concerns surrounding the vaccine safety, effectiveness and availability. Keywords: Corona virus, vaccine, hesitancy