8th March, 2021
By Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Frontline health care providers are the first set of people to be vaccinated against the dreaded Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Edo state.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Osamwonyi Irowa, stated this on Monday in Benin, at a two-day training, ahead of the rollout of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine in the state.
The training is organized by the state government.
Irowa noted that healthcare providers are not new to vaccine administration.
“These persons are very familiar with the administration of vaccines in the past. What we are doing here is just to set them in tune to meet up with any challenge in the field.
“The first set of people to be vaccinated will be healthcare workers. Among the healthcare workers, we have members of the frontline workforce, those who work in the isolation centres, those who work in the laboratories and the surveillance officers,” Irowa stated.
He assured that the state governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has provided the logistics for adequate administration of the vaccines across the 18 local government areas of the state.
In her speech, the executive secretary of the state’s primary healthcare development agency, Dr Julie Erhabor, disclosed that about 200 frontline health workers in the state are involved in the training.
She noted that the government is committed to containing the pandemic and ensuring the safety of citizens.
According to her, “The Edo state government is very proactive. This is training for trainers. It a prerequisite for the rollout of the vaccine.
“This is a special vaccine; it is not like the normal vaccine. We are reawakening their knowledge on relevant skills in handling, storage, distribution and waste management of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“The trainees were initially trained by the national body; they are the state facilitators. We have the local government team, the primary healthcare coordinators, local government immunisation officers and health educators, who are part of the network.
“The important thing is that, from this training, the local government team will go back to their base and train other members for adequate administration of this vaccine.”
Meanwhile, Dr Erhabor said the security agencies, which are a part of the training, would be needed from the point of storage, distribution and administration of the vaccines.
On his part, the State Covid-19 Incident Manager, Dr Andrew Obi, said that the exercise is aimed at training the healthcare workers who will further help to train others at the local government and ward levels.
Obi noted that the state has one of the strongest coaching systems in the country, adding that the state has the capacity to maintain coaching for the vaccines.
In his response, one of the participants, Dr Austin Okosun, said that the training would further enhance their knowledge and prepare them ahead of the vaccine rollout.