The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency has continued with the sensitization of Nigerians on the need to accept the COVID-19 vaccination.
The latest in the series is the sensitisation of Muslim Scholars and Imams at a meeting in Abuja.
Speaking at the meeting, the Secretary to the government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said that the government would ensure that leaders at all levels take the vaccine as an example to the people they lead.
He also commended the Islamic scholars on the support being enjoyed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
“As leaders of Islamic faith and custodians of Islamic principles, we enjoin you to sensitize your people that the vaccine is safe and effective as confirmed by the European Union and the World Health Organisation,” Mustapha said.
He also said that Nigeria hopes to vaccinate about 70% of the citizens between 2021 and 2022.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said that there’s the need to reassure Nigerians on the safety of the vaccine.
He noted that the suspension of the AstraZeneca Vaccine by some countries does not disqualify the vaccine.
“The side effects are not unusual. Every medication has side effects. But the positive effects of the vaccine outweighs the negative effects. With this vaccine, the reaction is not universal,” Ehanire said.
He added that the vaccine is what will help to protect lives.
The Sultan of Sokoto and the President General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, urged the scholars to go back to their various constituencies an discuss the safety of the vaccine.
