The federal government has alleged that there is a groundswell of scepticism and conspiracy theories around the COVID-19 vaccines due to arrive in the country latest by February.
The Executive Director of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said yesterday in Abuja when he led journalists on a tour of the agency’s National Strategic Cold Chain Store that the agency has begun an aggressive community engagement and consultation to educate the grassroots and also share the right information about the vaccines.
Shuaib stated that in spite of the scepticism in some quarters, the government is focused on protecting and inoculating Nigerians.
“We are mindful that we have a lot of work to overcome vaccine hesitancy that we are already seeing the misinformation, the conspiracy theories around the COVID-19 vaccines and we do not take for granted that all Nigerians understand the principles around vaccines production.
“We have to do the hard work. It is not enough to offer the vaccine to Nigerians; we have to do the hard work of sharing information and educating Nigerians about the vaccines; how they are produced, the fact that they are safe and all of the measures,” he explained.
He noted that all those concerns that were being raised are not just out of mischief.
According to him, the agency is going to be working with traditional leaders to educate them and as the gatekeepers of the communities, they understand how to communicate.
“We are reaching out to religious, community-based organisations, even political leaders because they are the representatives of the people,” he stated.
While debunking the concern that the NPHCDA lacks the storage capacity for the vaccines, he acknowledged that administering the vaccines on Nigerians would be a herculean task.
He said the country has the capacity to store up to 400,000 doses of the expected COVID-19 vaccines.
Shuaib assured Nigerians that the 100,000 doses of the expected Pfizer vaccines will not be administered on any Nigerian without the certification from National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“No vaccines will be administered to any Nigerian without NAFDAC certifying it. I want to reiterate that the responsibility of making that decision to vaccinate Nigerians is of the government. It is a sacred trust that we do not take for granted. We are going to be doing it very diligently,” Shuaib said.
He also spoke on plans to start local production of COVID-19 vaccines. (Thisday)
