Amidst rising cases of Omicron variant of the coronavirus pandemic, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday took his booster vaccine.
The President had taken his first dose on the 6th of March, 2021, and the 2nd dose on the 29th of May, also this year.
So far statistics from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA indicates that about 8 million Nigerians have so far been vaccinated.
The Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaibu, after administering the vaccine to the President, assured Nigerians that the vaccines are safe and efficacious.
He revealed that 8 million Nigerians have been vaccinated so far without casualties, adding that “ this is another proof that this vaccine is safe, and it’s a clarion call to all Nigerians to make themselves available to get the vaccine.
“They are well, they are going about their normal businesses. And what we’re seeing from the data is that COVID-19 is now mostly a disease of the unvaccinated out of every 10 people that have died, the data shows that eight of them are unvaccinated.
Shuaibu revealed that there’s a greater likelihood of dying from COVID-19 when a person is not unvaccinated.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Chairman of the Presidential steering committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, and Health Minister Osagie Ehanire had earlier taken their own booster dose, giving credence to the safety and efficiency of the vaccines.
He noted that government officials from the President, the governors, the legislators are showing leadership by coming out openly to take these vaccines, adding that “ these vaccines are exactly what we need to be able to protect our health and then begin to build back our economy”
“What Mr. President has done today is again to indicate to all Nigerians that federal government does everything to make sure that only safe and efficacious vaccines are brought into Nigeria, and that when they are brought into Nigeria, we double-check to make sure that it fits the very high standards that have been set by the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control NAFDAC.
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According to Shuaibu, “ one thing that should be clear in your mind is that this vaccine that is going into your body is safe, and is going to protect you against severe forms of COVID-19. It will also protect you from dying from COVID-19.
“That is the assurance that we’re giving Nigerians. The other thing that we are also telling Nigerians is that when you take the vaccine, you may feel some pain at the site of the vaccination, you may feel a little bit feverish, you may feel a few body pains. But these are all the indications that the vaccine is working. These are mild symptoms compared to the symptoms you will feel if you were to contract the actual COVID-19. This is part of the technology that pretends that this is COVID-19.”
The vaccine is also expected to raise up armies that fight and defeat the actual virus.
The federal government had listed the requirements for the booster shot, to include locating the nearest health facility or any vaccination Center, with the vaccination card
The booster is also only administered to those who had taken the double dose of the vaccine six months earlier.
The federal government has also assured that it is working to get the booster vaccines available across the country.
“ You don’t have to go too far from where you live or from where you work to get the booster doses. So for example, if you’ve gotten the AstraZeneca vaccine, first and second doses, you have to wait six months after the second dose to get your Pfizer BioNTech.
“If you actually got the Modena vaccine, you also have to wait for six months before you get the booster dose. So after the first dose of the Modena, you get the second dose after four weeks, then after six months, you are now eligible to get the booster.
Unlike the first two vaccines, however, for Johnson and Johnson vaccine, after the single-shot vaccine, the recipient is required to wait for only two months to get the booster.
“You are eligible for a booster after two months, So this as the protocols that we’ve laid out there, and we’re encouraging Nigerians to go and get vaccinated which their booster shots because what evidence shows is that when you get the booster shot, you actually get better protection against the Omicron variant.
“We’re all aware that the Omicron variant is globally being transmitted, especially with the holiday season, people are traveling. So this is an opportunity for you to go to the nearest health facility or the nearest mass vaccination site. We now have mass vaccination sites, in markets, in shop centers, in places that are you know, densely populated in some estates and in the workplace. So you can go to any of these centers and get vaccinated.”
