12 Govs, Others Take COVID-19 Vaccine Jab This Week

Our Correspondents

Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State are among the remaining 12 governors, who are expected to take the COVID-19 vaccines this week, alongside their deputies and other top government officials.

Others who are also to take their COVID-19 vaccine jab this week include: Governors Ben Ayade of Cross River State, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State.

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who is yet to take the vaccine, has since rejected the vaccine, claiming that there is no COVID-19 in his state.

Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, had reportedly said the federal government won’t force any state to accept COVID-19 vaccines.

Mamora was reacting to a statement by Bello, that he won’t take the vaccines, stressing that residents of his state are not “guinea pigs”.

THISDAY however gathered that the other remaining 12 states have received their consignments, awaiting to commence vaccination.

For instance, Sokoto State government has in the early hours of Thursday taken delivery of consignments of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the federal government.

A total of 68,660 doses were delivered to officials of the state government at the Sultan Abubakar III international airport.

The state Commissioner for Health and Chairman of the COVID-19 taskforce, Muhammad Ali Inname, said the state has adequate storage facilities for the vaccines.

Kebbi State government, at midnight of Wednesday, took delivery of 57,810 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

The State Commissioner of Health, Ja’afar Muhammed, said the first set of people to be vaccinated across the state was frontline health workers, which will be followed by other health workers and journalists.

Others to be vaccinated are political leaders in the state, military personnel, police officers and men, paramilitary personnel, bank officials and other members of the public.

Plateau State Government also took delivery of 105,600 doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccines.

However, the state government has declared that health workers that would be saddled with the responsibility of administering the vaccines will undergo one-week training before it is rolled out.

The Secretary to the State Government, Professor Danladi Atu, who disclosed this while receiving the vaccine on behalf of the governor, said the vaccines would be kept in a safe place, adding that the state government would soon commence the vaccinations in line with the scheduled guidelines.

Atu disclosed that the vaccine doses would be rolled out in four phases, adding that the first recipients would be front-line health workers, support staff and strategic leadership, followed by individuals ages 50 years and above.

Enugu State Government had also taken delivery of the first batch of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

The goods, which arrived the state through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, was received by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Ifeanyi Agujiobi; Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. George Ugwu, and development partners in the state, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Addressing journalists shortly, the commissioner said the state government was delighted by arrival of the therapy.

Taraba State also took delivery of 56,250 doses of the Oxford Astrazenega vaccine allocated to the state by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.

The vaccination exercise is expected to be flagged off by the state governor, Ishaku who is being expected to return to the state from Abuja today (Monday).

THISDAY gathered that vaccine would be administered to frontline health workers top government functionaries while other indigenes from 18 years and above are to receive theirs at a later date.

A total of 254 health workers have been trained to administer the vaccines across the 16 local government areas of the state.

Other states such as Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, and Oyo have also received their allocations and would commence vaccinations this week.