President Muhammadu Buhari has taken his booster jab of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The vaccine was administered on him on Tuesday, by his personal physician, Dr Suhayb Rafndadi, around 9:30 GMT, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Executive Secretary Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, spoke to State House Correspondents soon after the President took his jab. He said that the President has again demonstrated leadership by taking the booster jab.
Shuaib assured citizens that Covid-19 vaccine is safe; thus, they should all step out and take it for their own safety.
He said: “The significance of the shot this morning is that the father of the nation is leading by example. As usual, he is among the first people that have taken the booster dose of the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine.
“Again, to show, clearly, to all Nigerians that it is safe, it is efficacious, and now that over 8 million Nigerians have been vaccinated, here is another proof that this vaccine is safe and it’s a clarion call to all Nigerians to make themselves available to get the vaccine.“
The NPHCDA Boss used the occasion to call on all those refusing to take the vaccine to shelve aside all conspiracy theories, as the vaccine is not harmful to humans.
“The evidence is there; over eight million Nigerians have taken the vaccines safely. They are well, they are going about their normal businesses and what we’re seeing from the data is that Covid-19 is now mostly a disease of the unvaccinated.
“Out of every 10 people that have died, the data shows that eight of them are unvaccinated. So, there’s a greater likelihood of dying from Covid-19 if you’re unvaccinated.
“What the President has done today is again to indicate to all Nigerians that federal government does everything to make sure that only safe and efficacious vaccines are brought into Nigeria, and that when they are brought into Nigeria, we’ll double check to make sure that it fits the very high standards that have been set by NAFDAC.
“So, when you go to any health facility, when you go to any mass vaccination site, one thing that should be clear in your mind is that this vaccine that is going into your body is safe and is going to protect you against severe forms of Covid-19. It will also protect you from dying from Covid-19. That is the assurance that we’re giving Nigerians” he said.
Dr Shuaib noted that the vaccine comes with mild signs that confirm that the vaccine is working well, as it triggers the immune system of everybody that takes it.
“The other thing that we are also telling Nigerians is that when you take the vaccine, you may feel some pain at the site of the vaccination, you may feel a little bit feverish, you may feel a little bit of body pains, but these are all the indications that the vaccine is working. These are mild symptoms compared to the symptoms you will feel if you were to contract the actual Covid-19. This is part of the technology that portends that this is Covid-19, but in actual fact, it makes your body rise up armies that will now defeat the actual virus.
“So, please stop hesitating, stop having any doubts. It is a question of integrity for us that we do the right thing and we are showing, through leadership from Mr. President, the Governors, the legislators that have come out openly to take these vaccines, that these vaccines are exactly what we need to be able to protect our health and then begin to build back our economy,” he explained.
The Nigerian leader had taken his first jab of the vaccine on March 6 and the second jab on May 29, 2021.
Dominica Nwabufo
