COVID-19: Ogun receives 50,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses

…Gov. Abiodun, Deputy first in line to receive vaccination

…Aged, health workers to be prioritized

By Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta

The Ogun state government on Monday evening received its portion of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the Federal government.

Governor Dapo Abiodun received the first batch of 50,000 out of the 100,000 doses of the vaccine at the governor’s office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital.

According to the governor, the state was the first state of the federation to have received the vaccines after it arrived the country last week.

The vaccines were brought into the state by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker and accompanied by officials of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and World Health Organisation (WHO).

Abiodun disclosed that the remaining second batch of another 50,000 doses would be delivered to the state later in the evening of yesterday, warning residents of the state to continue to observe the COVID-19 protocols, saying the vaccine will only reduce the severity of the virus.

The governor said he and his deputy, Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, would be vaccinated later in the evening.

Abiodun said, “We will commence the vaccinations in line with the scheduled guidelines laid down by NPHCDA. They have identified particular state hospitals, general hospitals, primary health care centres across the state that would be used for this vaccination.

“I’m sure you are aware that there is a portal that already exists and there is a link that allows you to register or preregister and identify your local government so it can be as close to the available centre as possible.

“We will be prioritising our front line health workers, our elders and we go down the line as stipulated by NPHCDA.

“Definitely, we are beginning to see the end of this pandemic that has disrupted our lives like we have never anticipated in the last 13 months.

“But this is not an opportunity to put our masks away. This vaccine that we are getting, the protocol is that we get the first shot and then we get the booster shots and it is not until we get that booster shots that we have the required level of immunity.

“Even at that, what science tells us is that it is meant to reduce the severity of disease so the COVID-19 protocols and guidelines will still remain in place.”