The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora, on Friday said the federal government “will not force Nigerians to take the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine,” but would only appeal to people for their interest.
Mamora, who stated this in Asaba, Delta state, during the commissioning of capital projects at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, added that it “takes responsibility of the vaccine.”
“We are not forcing people to take the vaccine; the vaccine is safe, and we take the responsibility. We know the source of the vaccine; we cannot accept any vaccine we don’t it source.
Adeleke said “the projects are landmark projects; I have personally gone to inspect them and I am very impressed with the level of quality and diligence that was put into the construction.”
The projects include molecular biology laboratory, 15-room intensive care unit, 40- room house offices’ quarters/seminar room and 17-room guest house.
“It is imperative to enjoin the management and staff of the federal medical centre to always ensure that they discharge the duties of their offices adequately and effectively to all the good people of Delta state and its environs in order to justify massive investment the federal government has put into the development of the country’s health services,” he said.
He commended the director-general, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), for facilitating and funding the construction of the molecular biology laboratory in the hospital.
The FMC chief medical director, Dr. Osiatuma Victor, in his remarks, said the hospital was established in August 1998, and took over from the premises of the old general hospital, Asaba.
“The success story is that the hospital was able to transform very massively and quickly to fulfill the roles expected of a federal tertiary health Institution in the state and other neighbouring ones,” he said.
