The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib says provision will be made for President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; and other prominent Nigerian leaders to take the COVID-19 vaccine is the full glare of the public.
Speaking at the media briefing of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, held in Abuja on Thursday, Shuaib said administering the vaccine publicly is part of efforts to promote awareness.
“We will like to see a situation where Mr President, the Vice-President, the SGF, critical leaders come and take the vaccine in the full glare of the public to demonstrate that these vaccines are safe. So we have to make provisions for those.
“Even in developed countries, what we have also seen is that apart from the prioritisation of health workers, you have to also identify critical leaders that you don’t want them to be wiped off by the virus.
“For example, in warfare, if you want to destroy your enemies, you look for the specific leaders, captains, the generals; once you decapitate them, then the soldiers will become weak.
“So, as much as possible, you do not want to also leave your leaders vulnerable to COVID-19, it doesn’t mean you want to prioritise politicians; that is not correct. I emphasised during the last briefing that we will prioritise our health workers because they are the ones in direct contact with cases in isolation units,” he said.
Shaibu had earlier on Wednesday disclosed that approximately, 100,000 doeses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are expected in the country at the end of January.
He also noted that a total of 42 million doses of the vaccines will be secured during the course of the year.
