Bayelsa launches third round of COVID-19 vaccination

The deputy governor, Mr Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, 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.

The deputy governor, who chairs the state’s taskforce on immunisation, said government’s target was to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of qualified people in the first instance.

Ewhrudjakpo reminded stakeholders not to take their attention off routine immunisation 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.

In his address of welcome earlier, Commissioner for Health, Dr Pabara Igwele, said the COVID-19 Scales 3.0 Strategy Vaccination Campaign was being conducted nationwide.

He encouraged people of Bayelsa to take advantage of the current round to get vaccinated.

In their separate remarks, representatives of the NPHCDA, Mr Dare Jimoh, and his WHO counterpart, Mr Makio Perekeme, said government and its partners should not relent on the vaccination.

On their parts, Deputy Team Lead, Corona Management Systems, Ms Timiebiere Sabenus, and the representative of UNICEF, Mr Aigbokhan Godswill, thanked the Bayelsa government for the flag-off of the campaign.

They expressed the hope that the current campaign would ensure 100 per cent coverage of the state.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Oluwatoyin Azebi, lauded government for being proactive towards the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Azebi, also commended the state’s taskforce on immunisation for its good job, stressing that with the launch of the campaign, there would be significant improvement in immunisation in Bayelsa.

The highpoint of the launch was the administration of a COVID-19 vaccination booster dose on the deputy governor.