By Correspondent in Ilorin.
With 290 million cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) at the beginning of 2022 globally, and health system to contain the spread of the deadly virus overwhelmed by the number of cases,Kwara state government says 11 per cent of its residents have so far been vaccinated against the pandemic.
Speaking at a news conference in Ilorin on the side line of the commencement of COVID-19 Booster-Shots across the 16 Local Government Areas of the State, Dr Nusirat Elelu, the Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency who disclosed the percentage,added that about 455,808 people had so far been vaccinated.
She further disclosed that they were vaccinated for both Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines for the first and second doses.
The executive secretary stated that the state government had deployed all strategies and means to ensure that more people get vaccinated through easy access to COVID-19 vaccines designated sites, and designated about 163 COVID-19 vaccination sites across the 16 LGAs for the exercise.
Elelu also disclosed that each LGA had about four to five designated vaccine sites with several trained manpower deployed to the sites.
She explained that booster shots were meant for people who had had their second shot of over six months for AstraZeneca and eligible for booster doze of COVID-19, using Pfizer vaccine.
“In Kwara, we have over 90,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines available, as soon as we exhaust them, we have additional doses coming in to ensure that people who are qualified and have taken AstraZeneca in the last six months are able to take the booster shots.
“Also,those that have taken the Moderna shots and have taken the second shots in the last six months will also be administered the Moderna booster shots of the vaccines,” she added.
Elelu noted that some of the designated areas where the COVID-19 vaccination sites would be administered include; Ipata market, Mandate market, Oja-Oba, Palm Malls shopping complex in Ilorin and Okuta market among others.
She disabused the minds of pessimists about COVID-19 vaccines, stressing that they were safe and efficacious, adding that the agency had kept track records of those who got vaccinated for symptoms, whether mild or severe, in order to treat them accordingly.
Elelu, therefore, appealed to people to avail themselves of the opportunity to get vaccinated, stressing that those who got vaccinated had better chance of preventing the disease from being severe.
Beyond the state,medical doctors noted that the soaring number of COVID-19 cases, globally,had overstretched health systems around the world but expressed optimism that with more than 9.2 billion vaccine doses administered, worldwide as of January 3, 2022, containing the spread of the deadly virus would be achieved in no distant future.
They, however,stressed the need for most vulnerable countries, where millions of people lack access to critical life-saving supplies such as test kits, face masks and respirators, to intensify efforts in overcoming such challenges.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
