Lara Adejoro
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency has urged Nigerians to disregard rumours, videos and unofficial information about the COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency said such unofficial information is misleading.
A public service announcement posted on its Twitter handle @NphcdaNG and signed by the Executive Director of the agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, noted that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading very fast and significantly more transmissible.
The agency tweeted, “Dear Nigerians, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading very fast and evidence shows that the virus is significantly more transmissible, leading to a sharp rise in infections and in some instances, deaths.
“The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, which is the Federal Government Agency charged with the responsibility for all vaccine matters, is currently working with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC and the National Assembly, to make COVID-19 vaccines available and accessible to Nigerians.
“Dear fellow Nigerians, while we focus on ensuring the wellness of our nation, we urge you to please disregard any misleading rumours, videos and misinformation that are against the COVID-19 vaccine. Remember, your health is your life, and your life is your right!
“Protect yourselves, your families and loved ones from COVID-19. Get vaccinated.
“This message is brought to you by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.”
Recall that Shuaib had, during a recent briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, disclosed that Nigeria would take delivery of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of January.
The NPHCDA boss had said the country was planning to start administering the COVID-19 vaccine on Nigerians before the end of March.
According to him, Nigeria expects to receive free 42 million doses of the vaccines in the second phase through the COVAX facility being administered by 10 Global Vaccines Alliance.
Also, the Federal Government, he said, has opened talks with the Peoples Republic of China to have access to COVID-19 vaccines for Nigeria.
Meanwhile, President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Innocent Ujah has said that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and cannot cause infertility.
According to him, the vaccine will help to stop the spread of the virus and keep everyone safe.
Prof. Ujah spoke in reaction to a social media post that claimed COVID-19 vaccine could cause infertility.
The NMA president, who is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, told PUNCH HealthWise that the claim was “false, baseless and lacks scientific proof.”
Ujah said, “It is untrue that COVID-19 vaccine will cause infertility. We heard this during the polio vaccine eradication programme.
“That was even terrible. Some people claimed it was meant to reduce the population of the north. But you know that is not true.
“The truth is that Nigerians are very pessimistic. And we have all sorts of people in Nigeria; where people are wanting something good, others want to destroy it and also to make gain out it for nothing.
“There is no component or element of contraception or birth control in the vaccine.
“It is just misinformation on social media. People should disregard such information. It is just speculative and has no evidence.”
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