The Abia State Government says it will vaccinate at least 40 per cent of the population against COVID-19 pandemic before the end of 2021.
Dr Chinagozi Adindu, the Executive Secretary of the Abia State Primary Heath Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Friday.
Adindu said that the state was ready for the exercise and was waiting to receive its own share of the vaccines from the Federal Government.
According to him, 900 doses of the vaccine due to Abia will be given to the residents.
“We are having virtual training for various categories of workers in readiness for the vaccination.
“We have been able to ensure that everything is in place, including the equipment.
“The cold rooms, the 233 solar powered refrigerators that we received last year are all functional. We are waiting,” Adindu said.
He further said that the vaccines would come in batches, adding that they would first be given to frontline health workers, political leaders and the vulnerable.
“By the end of this year, we want to ensure that at least 40 per cent of Abia residents had received the vaccine,” he added.
He said that the vaccine would be administered by the officers in charge of the wards at various health centres in the state.
The ASPHCDA boss said that general hospitals in the state, tertiary institutions and some private hospitals would also be involved in the exercise.
“The state government will make sure that it trains the personnel that will ensure that Abia residents are adequately protected.
“The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has conducted its own screening and it has given a clean bill to the vaccine, that it is safe.
“That is why we, the health workers, are going to volunteer ourselves to receive it first.
“I don’t think we should be afraid of anything,” Adindu said.
He commended Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu for providing the necessary support to the health sector, especially in the fight against the pandemic. (NAN)
