Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has taken the first dose of the Covid-19 Vaccine in Gombe.
He called on leaders in the state to come out and take their own shot to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the vaccine to the rest of the public in the state.
Speaking shortly after receiving his own shot, Governor Yahaya said the introduction of the vaccine signified the return to normalcy in the state and called on political, religious, traditional leaders and all relevant authorities to take the lead in taking the vaccine.
He allayed the fears of the public on the safety of the vaccine, saying the AstraZeneca Vaccine had been certified by the World Health Organisation and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC to be safe.
“The vaccines have been found to be very safe and certified by the WHO at the international level and NAFDAC here in Nigeria. As people of faith, we know that healing and protection come from God alone, but we are also commanded by our religions to take medications and other precautions during periods of ill-health. Vaccinations, just like in the past, have proven to be effective in reducing morbidities and mortalities among our people,” said Governor Yahaya.
The Gombe State Government had last week taken delivery of 71,340 doses of the vaccines from the Federal Government through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
The government said the first phase is targeting frontline health workers, public and private health facilities, such as those at the point of entry, the rapid response team, the Contact Tracing Team as well as others in the military and para-military.
The second phase will equally comprise the elderly, from the age of 50 and above, while the third phase will be for those with significant co-morbidity, like Hypertension, Asthma and other chronic conditions, while the 4th phase will cover those with additional health risks.
Rolling out the programme of activities for the administration of the vaccine in Gombe State, the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Habu Dahiru, said robust training had been conducted for the certified health workers, who would administer the vaccine in the state.
Dr. Dahiru also said demand creation activities had been conducted in order to create the needed awareness on the efficacy of the vaccine and the dangers associated with not taking it.
“We have also developed a mechanism from the Ministry to the Health Care Development Agency for robust supervision and monitoring. There is also going to be an evening review meeting to assess each day, the performance, and where there are challenges, we go and take up where necessary,” said Dr. Dahiru.
The Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Gombe State Covid-19 Management Committee, Dr. Manassah Daniel Jatau, said despite the low record of infections in the state compared to other places in the world, it was not time to be complacent, the state needed the vaccine as further protection against the disease.
In the meantime, Dr. Jatau and a Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, who served as the pioneer Chairman of the Gombe State Covid-19 Committee, all encouraged the public to take the vaccine because it was safe and would immunize them against the infection.
