Deputy Governor of Bauchi state, Alhaji Baba Tela has received doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the Federal Government.
Tela while receiving the vaccines at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, assured residents that the government would soon commence the vaccination in line with the scheduled guidelines by NPHCDA.
He said 80, 570 doses would be administered to frontline health workers, government officials, traditional, religious leaders and security personnel.
Tela, also the chairman of the Task Force Committee on COVID-19 and Lassa fever, said “the vaccine is potent.’’
He said the vaccine had been administered across the world and all those who took it were doing well.
“The World Health Organisation has approved it, therefore, we in Bauchi are ready to take it,” the deputy governor said.
He noted that Governor Bala Mohammmed would lead other top government officials to take the vaccine after which others in the legislature and security would take theirs.
The deputy governor said the vaccine would be distributed to the 20 councils and 323 wards where it would be administered to frontline health workers and other vulnerable people, including the aged and children.
He advised residents to shun misinformation about the vaccines, adding that it had been scientifically tested and certified fit for human use by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Tela assured that the quantity supplied to the state would be administered, and urged the people not to be afraid but embrace the vaccine as the surest way of avoiding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking earlier, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, chairman of Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA), said the vaccines arrived late Tuesday night and was taken into the cold store to maintain its potency.
Mohammed added that the vaccines must be administered in line with the direction of its usage, stressing that it was potent in fighting COVID-19 infection.
He assured the people that the government would ensure that the vaccine went round everybody to rid the state of COVID-19.
