COVID-19: Amid Third Wave Reports, FG Flags Off Second Phase Of Vaccination
- The second phase of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out commenced on Monday, August 16, at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi in Abuja
- For this second phase, three brands of vaccines including Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson&Johnson COVID-19 vaccines would be administered to citizens
- The National Agency for Food and Drug Control also said it is the only agency across the world tracing where vaccines go to
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The Federal Government of Nigeria on Monday, August 16, commenced the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination to protect citizens against the deadly disease.
The second phase of the vaccination roll-out campaign follows FG’s efforts to curb the spread of the viral disease’s third wave.
Source: Facebook
Speaking at the national flag-off ceremony of phase 2 of the COVID-19 vaccination in Abuja which was attended by Legit.ng, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha said this commenced as Nigeria received about 4 million doses of Moderna vaccines, donated by the government of the United States of America.
Mustapha who is also the chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) said a set of 177,600 doses of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines have also been received from African Union (AU).
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He also noted that the PSC will continue to monitor with concern the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in several countries with a special focus on those with high incidence rates and widespread prevalence of variants of concern.
While commiserating with families who have lost loved ones to the virus, Mustapha said FG will do everything possible to minimize the surge of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.
Mustapha said:
“Citizens are strongly advised to minimize all non-essential international travels by land, air, or sea, at this time, specifically to countries that are showing a rising number of cases and deaths from COVID-19.”
In his address, the executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said samples of the COVID-19 vaccines have been collected by the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (NAFDAC) for integrity test.
Shuaib said the integrity and consistency test by NAFDAC is to ensure that the vaccines meet the global standards, what the Nigerian standard is and to ensure that it is in line with the product information that has been provided by the US Government and Moderna.
He said:
“NAFDAC has come back to the state that they have approved the Moderna vaccine for use.”
“The media reports that seem to suggest that we are delaying the rollout of the vaccines due to documentations of the vaccine is not correct."
"On the contrary, the reason we had to extend/postpone the launch date of the vaccine is that we want to institute once again in conjunction with NAFDAC the track and trace all the way to the health facility where the vaccines would be administered.”
Collaborating the statement by Shuaib, the director-general of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency has continued to prepare for the vaccination process for about a year now.
Adeyeye said:
“So you can ask yourself, Why should I take the vaccine because NAFDAC worked around the clock to ensure that the health of Nigerians is premium in whatever we do.
“NAFDAC is also the only agency in the world that is using track and trace to monitor where the vaccines go.”
Also speaking at the event, the World Health Organisation’s Country Representative in Nigeria, Walter Molumbo, said the introduction of these vaccines comes with a huge logistical preparation for the storage of Moderna vaccine.
Molumbo said"
“Partners are very happy with the Federal Government huge investment in the procurement and the installation of Ultra Cold Chain equipment at the national strategic store and the state cold stores.
“This is a good sign of a committed government leadership at national and state level to have its citizens vaccinated against the disease."
Molumbo noted that the country will be able to overcome all challenges for a successful Phase 2 vaccination rollout.
He reiterated that vaccines are a critical tool in the battle against COVID-19.
He said.
“These vaccines are safe and effective and will be the game-changer: but for the foreseeable future, we must continue wearing masks, physically distance and avoid crowds.”
Legit.ng had in its report noted that the Nigerian government had debunked claims that it plans to enforce a lockdown following the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country.
The report of a possible lockdown was debunked by the minister of health Osagie Ehanire who said that the lockdown is a last resort to the issue on the ground.
Ehanire said the FG is putting every effort in place to ensure that the spread of the deadly disease is curbed.
Also, the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, listed some of the features and symptoms of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
Ihekweazu said these features include a confirmed increase in transmissibility, more severe disease and a significant reduction in neutralisation by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination.
Other features are reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines and diagnostic detection failures.
Source: Legit.ng
