Let us all take the vaccine to protect ourselves. Our President and Vice President have taken it, so let's follow their good examples.
We should all strive to benefit from the 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that Nigeria has so far secured from India, courtesy of the Covax Facility, which arrived on March 2. This is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches.
Yesterday, I had my first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine in one of the general hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It was easy; no crowd, no ceremony, no fuss and no pain. I had expected a huge crowd, as all persons of a certain age and with brains between their ears know that it is important for their survival that they take it as soon as possible. I assume all the conspiracy theories against COVID-19 vaccinations have been so discredited that everyone would be eager to have the jab. I asked how many people have had the jab in the FCT and the response was that by end of work on Wednesday, March 17, only 711 people have had it. This is shockingly low. This might be because residents of the capital city did not see their minister or minister of state take it on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Silly me, no Nigerian believes what ministers do or say, so that cannot be the reason. In Lagos, where their governor took the vaccine on TV, the State Government reported that 12,720 people got vaccinated within the first 48 hours, implying that people there do not want to die from COVID-19.
At the national level, 2.3 million Nigerians registered their preparedness to receive the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine jab within 48 hours of the registration of the easy to use e-portal at the beginning of March, signalling some enthusiasm. A survey of 1,100 Nigerians between October and November 2020 by the Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 found that vaccine hesitancy was a high of 59 per cent in Nigeria. Reluctance is 64 per cent globally. Hesitancy, combined with a low trust environment, where only 24 per cent of Nigerians believe in government and trust overall is at 49 per cent (ThisDay, 18/3/2021) is the situation here. No vaccine in human history has had to contend with massive disinformation and conspiracy theories as that of COVID-19. The vaccine, we were told, would be designed (the stories were manufactured before the vaccines) to implant a chip to take over our genes and turn us into robots for Mr. Bill Gates, make Africans infertile, kill us through blood clots, ensure we serve the mission of the devil and hurry us to hell. Maybe it is a wonder that some people are ready to take the vaccine. Having carefully studied all the disinformation and found them to be false, be like me, take it when it is your turn.We should all strive to benefit from the 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that Nigeria has so far secured from India, courtesy of the Covax Facility, which arrived on March 2. This is part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to Nigeria in batches. The PTF understood the public's genuine scepticism about the new vaccine and their resistance and undertook the daunting task of reversing such perceptions many weeks before its arrival in the country. It has been messaging constantly to counter the negative perceptions of the vaccine's safety and efficacy, and to inform that it has no adverse effect on recipients. The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, which has direct responsibility for administering the vaccine has also been engaged in sensitisation and awareness programmes to correct negative perceptions. At the beginning of the second week of March, most States had received their doses. The plan is to ensure the vaccination of about 70 per cent of the population over the next two years, starting with health and frontline workers, and people over sixty years of age.


The World Health Organisation (WHO) has responded swiftly to the matter, saying the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its possible risks. Yesterday, the European Medicines Agency gave its ruling that they have not found any link between the vaccine and blood clots, and that it is safe and effective.
It is worrying that nearly two weeks after the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, some States are yet to begin vaccination. These include Oyo, Yobe, Cross River and Kogi States. Some governors are also yet to publicly take the vaccine, in spite of the fact that at the March 4 Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) meeting, they all resolved to take the vaccine publicly on March 10 with their deputies and to roll out the vaccine immediately thereafter in their States. In keeping with his long-held position, the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, had said that he would not take the vaccine. In addition, he has been circulating videos disparaging the vaccine and trying to discourage people from taking it. Clearly, he has responsibility for the lives lost to COVID-19 in Kogi State, where he had refused to allow testing from the very beginning.