The Cross River State Government has gotten delivery of 53,840 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines in Calabar.
The vaccines arrived at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar, the state capital south-south Nigeria on board Allied Air cargo aeroplane.
Representing Governor Ben Ayade at the arrival terminal to receive the vaccines was the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, the Commissioner for Health and Chairman of the State Covid-19 Response Taskforce, Dr. Betta Edu, and the Director General of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong.
Vaccines in good form
Although the authorities at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport prevented many news reporters from gaining access to the section of the arrival hall to observe the handing over process, Dr. Edu and Dr. Ekpenyong confirmed that the vaccines were in good condition.
According to Edu, “we just received the vaccines for Cross River State. We received them from the CACOVID private jet and they are in good form. They were received in the cold boxes and they came with all the medical consumables needed to administer the vaccines to people.”
“The vaccines that arrived is the AstraZeneca and this can be stored in the cold chain equipment which we have in the state. We have the cold store chain at the local government and across each healthcare facility in Cross River,” the Commissioner added.
Initial recipients
Dr. Edu said “we would be starting with all the health workers in the State and then move on to strategic leaders. What we mean is those leaders who are able to influence others to accept the vaccines such as the governor, his deputy, state legislators, executive council members and religious leaders.”
“But tomorrow we will start with health workers especially those at the sample collection centre located within the Dr. Lawrence Henshaw Infectious Disease Hospital here in Calabar”.
Security of drugs
Dr. Ekpenyong said that the cold stores across the state were in good condition and under the watchful eyes of the Nigeria Police Force.
“The cold stores across the local government areas were prepared to guarantee the potency of the vaccines as they arrive. Besides that, we have also engaged the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force. In fact, we have policemen at all our primary healthcare facilities in the state. We are not taking chances, I can assure you”, she said.
Awareness and sensitization
Ekpenyong explained that the primary healthcare development Agency was still on intensive sensitization to create acceptance for the vaccines. “We will keep sensitizing and intensifying our campaign. The apathy to immunization is not new to us; we are still creating awareness, engaging in advocacy to the necessary people and I believe that there would be acceptance by the time we roll out the vaccines to the communities eventually”, she added.
The State Coordinator of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Julius Idoko, said the agency had made advance preparations to receive the vaccines.
“We have all the facilities needed to transport the vaccines to the different health centres and posts in the communities. We spent two weeks preparing for movement that would ensure the potency of the vaccines until they reach the frontline health workers at the communities. The vaccine is from India”, he said.
Nneka Ukachukwu
