Covid-19 Vaccination: Only Booster Dose Offer Complete Protection, FG Clarifies
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has urged Nigerians to as a matter of urgency take booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccines to achieve complete protection from the ravaging virus.
Ehanire made the call at a press briefing on Covid-19 response and development in the health sector on Monday, January 9, 2023 in Abuja.
He explained that the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that people who took booster doses were more protected than those who took only the first and second jabs.
He noted that this was important following resurgence of Covid-19 in China, US and UK, the high potential of having it imported from other countries, and the fact that there was usually an increase in upper respiratory infection, in Nigeria due to harmattan.
Therefore, he was in discussion with WHO and others to do a situation review on the impact in Nigeria.
Furthermore, he assured that the ministry of health would heighten surveillance and maintain vigilance especially at entry points into the country.
On his part, the Director General, Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa said Covid-19 had followed a different epidemiological course in Nigeria and most of Africa, with lesser cases, admissions, and deaths from the Omicron sub-lineages.
However, the NCDC was closely monitoring the rise in the new Omicron sublineages XBB.1.5 in the UK and US, the current resurgence COVID-19 trends in China, and other countries with a high volume of traffic to and from Nigeria.
He explained that the sub-lineages partly responsible for the current increase in Covid-19 cases in other countries i.e., XBB.1.5 and BF.7 had not been detected in the country as at November 2022.
Adetifa informed that, since the detection of the Omicron variant in December 2021, its sub-lineages (BQ.1/BQ.1.1) had been dominant in Nigeria also as seen in other parts of the world.
He stated that, regardless of Covid-19 variants in different parts of the world, severe disease, admissions, and deaths disproportionately affect the unvaccinated and those with established risk factors i.e., older people, people with co-morbidities e.t.c.
The NCDC Helmsman therefore advised Nigerians to get vaccinated against the virus, and adhere to the recommended nonpharmaceutical intervention (NPIs) such as the use of face masks, good hand and respiratory hygiene and avoidance of crowded spaces.
Executive Director of the National Primary HealthCare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib who was represented by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics of the Agency, Dr. Abdullahi Garba said the country had vaccinated 65.6% of its target population as against the 70% target.
He disclosed that, as at 7th January 2023, a total of 76,105,997 persons had received the first dose of the covid-19 vaccine, while only 9,875,715 received the booster.
He also informed that the country had 28,968,045 Covid-19 vaccines doses in stock and was expecting more in the coming days. Therefore, Nigerians should take their booster shots of the Pfizer vaccines available irrespective of the brands taken earlier.
