Governors, Deputies To Be Vaccinated On March 10

Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti state, has announced that state governors and their deputies are to receive Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, March 10.

The Governor, who is the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) disclosed this at a virtual news conference on Thursday.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu; Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, and other medical experts.

In a communique on Thursday, Kayode Fayemi, said the governors promised that the necessary measures will be in place to ensure effective distribution of the vaccine.

He added that the vaccination was part of resolutions made by the governors during an emergency virtual meeting held and that the vaccination would be done publicly.

Fayemi said the governors would do this to enlighten more Nigerians on the need to take the vaccine, which, he said, was safe.

He expressed the governors’ commitment to work with the Federal Government to ensure that the required cold chain would be set up for the vaccine.

In addition, the governor encouraged citizens to use the e-registeration portal on National Primary Health Care Development Agency website – nphcsaict.com.ng/publicreg – to register for vaccination.

He said Boss Mustapha, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, at the meeting, briefed the governors on 3.92m doses of vaccine received by Nigeria on Tuesday.

He disclosed that the leadership and frontline health workers would be the first to receive the vaccine today (Friday), followed by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday, March 6.

On his part, the SGF told the governors that the vaccine is safe for people older than 18 years.

Mustapha also noted that National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is conducting tests to confirm if the vaccine is safe for rollout.