By John Ikani
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says 4,680,000 Nigerians have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this during the South-South zonal town hall meeting on COVID-19 vaccination on Saturday in Benin.
Shuaib disclosed that of the 4,680,000 vaccinated Nigerians, 1,865,127 were fully vaccinated with the two doses.
He expressed displeasure that the figures were below Nigeria’s target of reaching herd immunity, and that it could prevent the country from returning to normal living.
“I will like to encourage us to use our good offices to encourage eligible members of our community to visit the nearest designated health facility to receive the vaccine.
“All the vaccines are currently available in designated vaccination sites across the country and are safe and effective,” he said.
While disclosing that the NPHCDA plans to gradually involve the private sector as sites for COVID-19 vaccination, Shuaib added that the Federal Government has also set up a Joint Task Force on COVID-19 vaccine for monitoring and accountability in collaboration with the security agencies.
On his part, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osage Ekhanire, said Nigeria has so far lost 2000 of its citizens to COVID-19, while the virus has also crashed the nation’s GDP to 33 percent.
He explained that federal government needs to vaccinate 70 percent of the populations to effectively curb the spread of the virus.
“The way out of this is to get vaccinated because those who had taken the virus have full protection while the unvaccinated are exposed to danger and casualty,” he added.
Also speaking, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, said the state has so far vaccinated 130,000 residents against thee virus.
Represented by his Chief of Staff Osaigbovo Iyoha, he said” our target is to vaccinate 60 percent of our population so that the state can return to normalcy”.
Earlier, the Representative of World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Walter Kazadi Molumbo, assured of the safety of all the vaccines being administered in the country.
