The Committee on the Management of Covid-19 in Gombe State
has met with various stakeholders on how to increase the
acceptability and consumption of the Covid-19 vaccines in the
state.
The Chairman of the Committee, Gombe State Deputy
Governor, Dr. Manassah Daniel Jatau, said the meeting became
necessary in view of the realisation that the state had a low
record Covid-19 vaccine intake in the state.
Dr. Jatau said the situation had become worrisome, but that the
government alone could not solve it, hence the need for the
support from the stakeholders, including religious leaders and
traditional rulers.
He said the essence of the meeting was to garner suggestions, as well as solutions on how best to achieve maximum acceptance by the people across the 11 local government areas.
The Gombe State Deputy Governor said all contributions from the
stakeholders would enable the government to know where the gaps where and how they could be bridged.
He said the government would want to know why many people
who took the first dose of the vaccine did not come back for the
the second one, as well as what should be done to change the trend.
Dr. Jatau said the contributions of the stakeholders, would go a
long way in getting the public to accept the vaccine as safe and
guarantee them protection from dying from the disease or its
severe effect on an unvaccinated person.
Dangers of not vaccinating
Similarly, various speakers took turns to highlight the dangers in
not taking the vaccine and the need to create more awareness, by
allaying the fears of those who feel the vaccine could get them
killed in a few years time.
The Project manager of the Gombe State Emergency Routine Immunisation Coordination, Mr. Musa Kuna, said only 363,921 persons had been vaccinated, out of the estimated and eligible 1,940,630 people.
Mr. Kuna, therefore, said sharing the statics of the Covid-19 vaccination intake was intended to spur discussions on the actions to be taken to increase the intake of the vaccine in the state.
“Gombe has a vaccine total population of 1,940,630 out of which 228,277 of the population got vaccinated with the second dose, total 119,699 received the Covid-19 vaccination with second dose and 15,945 received booster dose,” said Mr. Kuna
The Commissioner of Information, Mr. Julius Ishaya, attributed the resistance of the public to accept the vaccine to fears instilled in them that whoever takes the vaccine would die early.
He, however, allayed the fears of such groups of people, saying the vaccine is safe and would prevent patients from dying or getting serious complications.
Some of the traditional rulers called for more collaboration with the government and sensitisation for the public to accept to be vaccinated against the disease.
The Deputy Governor said the suggestions offered by the stakeholders would be used to raise the level of Covid-19 vaccination in the state.
Emmanuel Ukoh
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