The Federal Government has received no fewer than 604,800 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines donation from MTN Nigeria Telecommunications company in Abuja.
The Director of Disease Control and Immunization at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Bassey Bassey Okposen who represented the Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib at the donation event, appreciated the gesture by the MTN for their exemplary support to the Government of Nigeria.
He said, without equivocation, 604,800 doses of the J&J vaccine mean a potential 604,800 fully vaccinated Nigerians and this is to say that MTN is wishing Nigeria the fast lane to COVID-19 recovery.
Speaking further, he, however, said this demonstrated wish will remain only a wish if we do not receive it by our actions.
“Receiving it by actions simply means that every eligible Nigerian should get vaccinated against COVID-19. We sincerely cannot commit the whole of our time, and nor do we have enough resources in Nigeria to fight COVID-19.
“The earlier we all come to a common understanding that COVID-19 is still a formidable threat to our collective wellbeing, the stronger we will be, and the easier and faster it will be for us to defeat it and forge ahead with our lives,” he said.
According to him: “One can imagine what our dear country would have been facing by now if we did not have support like the one, we are receiving from MTN today.
“The vaccines are here, yet there are still many of us who are hesitant to be vaccinated. We seem to be having the wrong information or impression that COVID-19 is no longer existing or it is no longer a problem.
“Those of us who may be having this impression is wrong. The fact is that COVID-19 is still here with us in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, and it is a dangerous disease that can surge anytime as it has mutating properties.
“It does not make sense that the Government and its partners continue to spend colossal sums of money to protect people against COVID-19 if the disease does not exist.”
He also disclosed that as at the 14th of September 2022, 47,172,937 eligible persons have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine representing 42.2% of the eligible population.
He further said about 34,242,083 persons have been fully vaccinated and this represents 30.6% of the eligible person and 3,678,412 of the fully vaccinated persons have received their booster doses.
“Over forty-seven million eligible persons in Nigeria have so far received the vaccines Although these people constitute less than half of the overall population of eligible persons in our country, they cannot be wrong to have taken the vaccine. So what are we waiting for?” he queried.
Tribune
