The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Health and Human Services Secretariat has advised every eligible Nigerian to take the COVID-19 vaccine to curtail further spread of the virus in the country.
Acting secretary of the secretariat, Dr Mohammed Kawu, gave the advice Weekend in Abuja during an interview with journalists.
He said the country would not be considered safe until 70 per cent of the nation’s population was vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He stated that FCT got 219,800 doses of vaccines from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), adding that the priority was to vaccinate all health workers in FCT.
He also stated that the brand of COVID-19 vaccine currently being used in Nigeria was safe and efficacious.
He said: “The president, the vice president and all the political leaders of this country have taken the vaccine.
“If it is not safe, we are not that bad as to allow our president, governors and other political leaders to take this vaccine.
“So, you can be sure this vaccine is safe.
“This vaccine is coming from a 21-year-old company, established in 1990 in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
“It is not a Third World vaccine production facility as so many people are saying.
“These vaccines were produced by the company which is a UK and Swedish based company. They merged in 1990 to form the company.
“So, this vaccine we are getting from a very reliable source from the first world; and the UK and other European countries are taking the vaccines.
“UK is presently taking this vaccine despite the hitch they got in Sweden and one other country that have withheld the administration of this vaccine.
“UK said, as far as they are concerned, they have not seen or heard any side effect that warrants a stoppage of the vaccine.
“The vaccine is as potent and as safe as required.
“The problem that other countries have is that some people develop thromboembolism which is common in the UK.
“Probably it is coincidence, probably it is one of the side effects, they are not sure.
“So they want to investigate further with the batch that they are using and the batch is ABC 1530 and that is not the batch we are using in this country and that is not the batch UK is using, Italy too is not using it,” Kawu said.
