98MILLION MORE NIGERIANS NEED VACCINATION, SAYS UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund says Nigeria needs to vaccinate over 100 million of its citizens against COVID-19 but has so far been able to inoculate just fewer than two million people.

The Nigeria Representative of UNICEF, Peter Hawkins, said this in Abuja on Wednesday at the launch of the National Social Behaviour Change Campaign on COVID-19 in Nigeria otherwise known as ‘Powerful H.A.N.D.S’ organised by the Centre for Communication and Social Impact.

The global organisations said this investigations by The PUNCH showed that despite the spread of devastating COVID-19 strains in neighbouring West African countries, the Federal Government had abandoned the abandoned enforcement of safety measures at the land borders.

On Wednesday at the launch of COVID-19 behavioural change campaign,  its country representative,Hawkins, said there was the need to adhere to protocols because it would take time to vaccinate the required number of people.

He  stated that so far, Nigeria, which had received less than four million COVID-19 doses had done well in rolling out the vaccines. Each person is entitled to two doses.

He, however, said the country still had a long way to go since 100 million is the target.

India’s largest vaccine producer, Serum Institute, had on Tuesday said it would not be able to export vaccines until the end of 2021 due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country.

This has been seen as a blow to countries depending on its shipments to start their vaccination campaigns. The COVAX facility which largely depends on India has also been gravely affected.

Reacting, however, Hawkins said Nigeria would receive 40 million doses through COVAX but much later.

The UNICEF representative said, “For vaccines, let’s be clear. With COVAX, 40 million (doses) will come overtime. Only 3.9 to 4 million doses have arrived so far. Our aim is to vaccinate over 100 million people in Nigeria. That is going to take a long time. The success so far has been very positive but 1.8 million have taken the first dose at the moment.

“And the second dose will be taken between now and July 12. That is success but it is a small success which we need to build on and it is not the solution. The solution is when you take preventive measures plus the vaccine and the vaccine is going to take a long time so in the meantime, we must take preventive measures while we take this forward.”

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Hawkins said COVID-19 had been mutating such that younger people are getting more susceptible to the disease.

He, therefore, stated that the new initiative which is targeted at children is timely.

“The vaccine is also mutating. It is trying to survive and we have seen it getting to younger and younger people. So, addressing it at the school level is a critical message to our younger brothers and sisters to take measures themselves but also to ensure that adults take measures themselves,” Hawkins said.

Also speaking, the Director-General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the third wave of the pandemic in Nigeria is avoidable.

He, however, argued that the best way to avoid it is to continue with the non-pharmaceutical interventions like social distancing, washing hands and wearing masks.

In her remarks, the Executive Director, Centre for Communication and Social Impact, Babafunke Fagbemi, said the ‘H.A.N.D.S’ campaign will continue even after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fagbemi said there was a need to revive the campaign against COVID-19 because many Nigerians had become indifferent to it.

“If I don’t believe in washing my hands, it means I am likely not to get vaccinated. So, let us get long term behaviours right and these behaviours are even key beyond the pandemic,” she said.    ,,

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