24th August, 2022
By Shedrack Frank
Bayelsa state government has flagged off the third round of Covid-19 vaccination, charging residents to make themselves available for immunisation.
Mr Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the state deputy governor who did the flag-off, dispelled rumours that the vaccines were unsafe.
He argued that if the vaccines were unsafe, the health status of many who took them in the first and second rounds of the exercise would have deteriorated.
According to him, the state government’s target was to vaccinate at least 70 percent of qualified people in the first instance.
Ewhrudjakpo reminded stakeholders not to take their attention off routine immunization and primary healthcare coverage, even as the COVID-19 vaccination is being scaled up.
“I thank all the stakeholders and our partners – the WHO, UNICEF, Corona Management Systems, the Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) and others for taking the campaign to this level.
“We thank the COVID-19 partners for making the vaccines available.
“As we launch the COVID-19 Scale 3.0 Strategy Vaccination Campaign, we need to remind ourselves that all the negative things about COVID-19 vaccinations have been proved wrong.
“Initially, it was scary and even mystical, but finally it has been demystified and has become an ordinary thing we had expected it to be.
“From the last statement made here by the WHO representative, it is clear that the vaccines are working. If they were not working, the rate of mortality would have gone beyond what we have today.
“We need to put more efforts than we are doing now.
“While we are talking about COVID-19 vaccination, we must not forget to also talk about routine immunisation and primary healthcare coverage,’’ Ewhrudjakpo said.
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