Covid-19: Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Nasarawa meet daily vaccination target
Story from Isah Aliyu CHIROMA, Abuja
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said Kaduna State has joined Jigawa, Nasarawa and Kano in vaccinating its target number of eligible people daily in the COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign in the country.
Dr Nneka Onu, Director, Primary Health Care Systems, NPHCDA, who represented Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said this on Monday in Abuja, at the bi-weekly ministerial press briefing, update on COVID-19 response and development in the health sector.
Shuaib said five states, namely Nasarawa, Jigawa, Kano, Kwara and Ogun, lead as the agency’s top-performing states on the COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign in the country.
“In the past seven days, Jigawa and Nasarawa states improved their coverage of fully vaccinated people by over 3.5 per cent and five per cent respectively.
“Jigawa and Kano have each vaccinated over 2.5 million eligible people with the first dose, and fully vaccinated over two million more,” he said.
The NPHCDA boss said a few doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines would be expiring by the end of this month.
He noted that these vaccines are still efficacious and that would be used up by the states before the end of April, adding that this is to further demonstrate the high standards that the agency operates within the country.
“The work that we do is the work that requires trust. It is a sacred trust that has been bestowed on us by Nigerians.
“And we guard that trust very jealously. This is why we do not accept any vaccine doses that are less than six months of expiration,” he explained.
Shuaib added: “To further strengthen vaccine security and accountability, we are deepening our collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Our partnership in this regard is also aimed at further curbing cases of vaccine mismanagement and other anticipated sharp practices at the vaccination sites.
The Director, Port Health Services (PHS) in the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Geoffrey Okatubo, said since the announcement by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, the removal of the mandatory Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for fully vaccinated visitors and stiff penalties for unvaccinated travellers violating the new rules, the port had enjoyed few challenges.
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Okatubo said reviewed protocol challenges at the points of entry have reduced.
“This is because of the removal of the mandatory PCR testing for fully vaccinated visitors; our data shows that more than 90 per cent of passengers coming into the country are now fully vaccinated.
“So, that means that fewer number of people are not fully vaccinated, and this set of people are required to do their post-arrival PCR test while coming into the country,” he explained.
He noted that some Nigerians also claim to be fully vaccinated, only for the PHS to discover that they were only partially vaccinated.
He, however, said more than 95 per cent of passengers coming through Kano State are also fully vaccinated against the alleged claim of them not being vaccinated.
On Lassa fever, Dr Salama Kolo, Director, Family Health Department, FMoH, emphasized that the rampant health issues in the country, such as Lassa fever, can be curtailed with conscious preventive measures.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Lassa fever has an atypical mode of presentation, “similar to many of the acute febrile illnesses like malaria or gastrointestinal illness we have in our environment.”
This could make diagnosis difficult and highlights the need for a high index of suspicion. Also, making a confirmed diagnosis requires a sophisticated test that is not routinely available.
Treatment of a patient with Lassa fever will depend on the way the patient presents, and their categorization as mild or severe.
Generally, all patients receive supportive care like intravenous fluids, analgesics or other care as needed, but confirmed cases also receive an anti-viral medication known as Ribavirin.
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