COVID-19 vaccination: Lagos residents laud state govt on 2 weeks extension

Many residents of Lagos on Monday leveraged on extension of the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination exercise to get inoculated at various designated centres, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

NAN visit to some of the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Ikorodu area, showed large turnout of healthcare workers, frontline workers and the elderly waiting to be vaccinated.

Some of the health facilities visited were Ita-Elewa Primary Healthcare Centre, Ikorodu; Ipakodo Primary Healthcare Centre, Ebute/Ipakodo; and Oke-Eletu Primary Healthcare Centre, Ijede.

The state government had announced the extension of COVID-19 vaccination for two weeks, starting from May 10 to 24, to enable more people to receive the vaccine.

The government said that the vaccination would be held at designated PHC centres in 13 local government areas or Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

NAN reports that there was strict enforcement of facemask use, and residents were orderly at the visited centres.

Some of the residents told NAN that they got to the centres as early as 6.45 a.m to enable them to receive the vaccine before the end of the first phase of the vaccination.

Commenting, a medical doctor, Dr Abdul-Rahman Adegoke, said he initially delayed in taking the vaccine to observe vaccine trends globally.

“With reports of the spike in Indian COVID-19 infection and mortality figures, I feel that delay in taking the vaccine will be dangerous.

“Moreso, we do not know when Nigeria will have access to more vaccines, which will definitely be a drawback to its vaccination programme,” Adegoke said.

Also, a retiree, Mrs Abiola Onamasi, commended the state government for the extension, saying that it would help increase the number of immunised people.

“I couldn’t take the vaccine at the start of the vaccination exercise due to some medication that I was using then.

“Fortunately, the exercise has been extended, and I have the permission of my physician to take the vaccine now,” she said.

Commenting, Mrs Christiana Nwabueze, a nurse, said that the state government should enforce the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions of facemask, physical distancing and hand hygiene in public places.

Nwabueze said that beyond advocating for vaccine uptake, non-pharmaceutical interventions should be strictly enforced, considering the low number of vaccinated persons in the state.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed that the state government received an additional 57,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine from the Federal Government.

Abayomi said the vaccines would cover 28, 000 people for two doses, adding that the state was making efforts to increase the number of immunised individuals.

According to him, less than one per cent of the state’s population had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. (NAN)