Kogi state government has called on the people to volunteer themselves for the vaccination exercise against the scourge of COVID-19 pandemic.
The Commissioner for Health, Doctor Saka Haruna, stated this Wednesday during the flag off of COVID-19 vaccination exercise in collaboration with the Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KPHCDA) at the premises of the Ministry of Health, Lokoja.
Doctor Haruna stated that the Ministry of Health has taken the delivery of 16,900 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and assured that the vaccine is safe. He stated that no one would be denied the chance to take the vaccines, adding that the state government would not also force any individual to take the vaccine.
He noted that additional 16, 900 of AstraZeneca vaccine will be delivered to the state in two week’s time and he commended Governor Yahaya Bello for his proactive measures in ensuring that the vaccine was delivered to the state to cater for the needs of its citizens.
The executive director, KPHCDA, Dr Abubakar Yakubu, said the vaccine has passed through series of laboratory tests by NAFDAC and other relevant agencies, adding that the vaccine is virile and safe for the people of the state.
He urged Kogi citizens to dismiss claims in some quarters that the vaccine is not safe, maintaining that the state governor would never approve any drug that would pose a health threat to his people.
Also in his remark the State Chairman of Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Doctor John Ibenu, commended the state government for managing the COVID-19 outbreak, saying the pandemic did not spread to the state as a result of sensitisation embarked upon by the stakeholders in the state health sector.
