FG Says War Against COVID-19 Not Yet Over
Boss Mustapha, Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on Monday warned that the war against COVID-19 is by no means over.
According to Daily Independent, Boss Mustapha said this while leading all members of the PTF to receive the first doses of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine as a further demonstration of its safety and efficacy.
Mustapha stressed that “in this war, we are all involved in this because nobody is safe until everybody is safe. Our ultimate objective is to vaccinate about 70 percent of our population which is about 200 million, between year 2021 and 2022.
“The process of orderly rollout, deployment and administration of the vaccines will, undoubtedly, further test our ability to do things properly and strategically. Real time authentic information must go out, mobilisation must be effective and timely, while transparency and accountability must be evident in all we are doing to the last mile.
“All these shall involve the governors, our legislators, all sub-national entities, the media, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, business communities, labour organisations, leaders of thought, parents, etc. No stone will be left unturned to reach the population of eligible Nigerians.
“I wish to admonish Nigerians to remember that while vaccines offer great hope, it cannot on its own protect you completely. We must continue to observe the non-pharmaceutical measures earlier introduced. There is no doubt that their effectiveness will help to minimize the impact of the virus in Nigeria and our attitude must be NPIs + Vaccines. The initial strategy, therefore, shall be sustained because we must continue to prevent, detect, isolate and treat. The war against COVID-19 is by no means over.”
He said the Ministry of Aviation and the NCAA have been tasked to take necessary reciprocal measures against Emirate and Lufthansa airlines as may be permissible under the laws and other international obligations as regards the month old engagement with the authorities of the UAE and the Netherlands over pre-departure testing requirements passengers should meet before travelling from Nigeria.
The SGF reiterated the call to Nigerians not to allow vaccines hesitancy propagated through conspiracy theories sway them from the path of doing the right thing.
He said: “Taking the vaccines will protect you, your loved ones and the entire community. I similarly wish to warn against patronising unauthorised vaccines peddlers. The only recognised safe and efficacious vaccines are those coming through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). We should remain vigilant.”
The jab was given to Ministers of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire; Environment, Muhammad Mahmood; Foreign Affairs, Geoffery Onyema; World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Nigeria, Mr. Walter Mulombo; Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib; Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC); Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu; SGF Director of Press, Willie Bassey; Permanent Secretary, General Services Office (GSO), OSGF, Dr. Maurice Nnamdi, and former Permanent Secretary, GSO, Olusegun Adekunle.
Others are Permanent Secretary, Political, OSGF, Andrew David Adejoh; PTF National Incident Manager, Dr. Mohammed Mukhtar; Director General and Chief Executive Officer for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, and Head of Department, Surveillance and Epidemiology Department (NCDC), Mrs. Elsie Ilori.
Also, four journalists who are considered part of the critical front-liners in the fight against the virus received the vaccine in a representative manner.
The journalists are Friday Okoregba of Channels Television; Hassan Tukur of Liberty Television; Nancy Oyediya Urum of Africa Independent Television (AIT), and Rahila Lassa of Voice of Nigeria (VON).
All those who received their first jabs administered by Obuba Horsefall, the supervising nurse, Adaga Lucy and Obodia Ogonna did e-registration and filling out of their vaccination cards and were later presented with vaccination cards.
