OGUN: Compliance with Covid-19 regulations still necessary despite vaccines, says Abiodun

THE state government received its portion of the Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccines from the Federal government last night.

Governor Dapo Abiodun received the first batch of 50,000 out of the 100,000 doses of the vaccine at the governor’s office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital.

According to the governor, the state was the first state of the federation to have received the vaccines after it arrived the country last week.

The governor, however, warned residents of the state not to let down their guard  in the fight against the lethal virus adding that the vaccines will only reduce the severity of the virus.

The vaccines were brought into the state by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker and accompanied by officials of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and World Health Organisation (WHO).Abiodun disclosed that the remaining second batch of another 50,000 doses would be delivered to the state later in the evening of yesterday.

Abiodun said, “We will commence the vaccinations in line with the scheduled guidelines laid down by NPHCDA. They have identified particular state hospitals, general hospitals, primary health care centres across the state that would be used for this vaccination.

“I’m sure you are aware that there is a portal that already exists and there is a link that allows you to register or preregister and identify your local government so it can be as close to the available centre as possible.

“We will be prioritising our front line health workers, our elders and we go down the line as stipulated by NPHCDA.

“Definitely, we are beginning to see the end of this pandemic that has disrupted our lives like we have never anticipated in the last 13 months.

“But this is not an opportunity to put our masks away. This vaccine that we are getting, the protocol is that we get the first shot and then we get the booster shots and it is not until we get that booster shots that we have the required level of immunity.

“Even at that, what science tells us is that it is meant to reduce the severity of disease so the Covid-19 protocols and guidelines will still remain in place.”