President Muhammadu Buhari will today take his first dose of
the newly acquired Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
“To increase public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine
roll-out, President Muhammadu Buhari will be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca
vaccine Saturday, March 6th, 2021 at the New Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa
at 11:30 a.m.”, the NPHCDA, the agency at the centre of the vaccination for
Nigeria, announced Friday evening.
Nigeria on Tuesday took delivery of nearly four million
doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as part of an overall 16
million doses planned to be delivered to the country in batches over the next
few months. The vaccines are being provided by COVAX, an unprecedented global
effort to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Upon arrival, samples were handed to NAFDAC, the Nigerian food and drug regulatory agency, for further examination.
Nigeria on Friday commenced the vaccination, beginning with
healthcare workers who are often at the risk of exposure to infections being
the first responders to patients.
Cyprian Ngong, a medical doctor, became the first person to
receive a jab of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in Nigeria. Three other health
workers were also vaccinated during the flag-off event at the National Hospital
in Abuja.
The executive secretary of the NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, had on
Monday announced that President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will
pick dates on which they will be vaccinated publicly.
President Buhari is yet to officially issue a statement on
the arrival of the vaccines and his own vaccination.
Weeks before the arrival of the vaccines, Governor Kayode
Fayemi of Ekiti, who addressed journalists in Abuja after meeting with
President Buhari late January, said he and his colleagues will take the
vaccines on live television.
“We too will like to demonstrate to our citizens that we
believe that vaccines would work,” he said.
“Don’t forget, we have a lot of experience on this.
Governors Forum managed the polio vaccines administration in the country and we
have garnered a lot of experience,” said Mr Fayemi, the chairman of the Nigeria
Governors Forum.
Health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response
team, laboratory network, police officers, petrol station workers and strategic
leaders are among those to be vaccinated in the first phase of Nigeria’s
vaccine rollout.
President Buhari last November had expressed delight with
the successful human trial phase of the first set of vaccines including that of
Pfizer and Moderna.
The president, who described the development as a major
milestone in medical advance, warned that the world must unite in facilitating
the equitable access and distribution of these vaccines to protect people in
all countries.
“Only a people’s vaccine with equality and solidarity at its
core can protect all of humanity and get our societies safely running again. A
bold international agreement cannot wait”, the president said according to a
statement issued by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi
Gbajabiamila, speaking at the commencement of COVID-19 vaccination at the
national hospital on Friday warned Nigerians against playing politics with the
COVID-19 vaccines rollout.
“We must not play politics with vaccines, we must not play
politics with the health of our neighbours, we must be on the same page whilst
we also, do what we need to do in terms of role in checking the government,” Mr
Gbajabiamila said.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com