COVID-19 vaccine: Senate President receives first jab

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday received the first jab of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Ola Awoniyi, his Special Adviser on Media in a statement on Tuesday said the vaccine was administered to Lawan in his office by his personal physician, Dr Muhammad Usman.

The vaccination card was presented to the Senate President by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health(Secondary and Tertiary), Sen.Ibrahim Oloriegbe.

Lawan after taking the first jab of the vaccine, called on Nigerians to make themselves available for the vaccination.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is real. We are still facing that challenge and therefore I urge all Nigerians especially those within the range specified by the health authorities and those at the frontline that we make ourselves available.

“Though this is a voluntary thing but it is advisable that as many Nigerians as possible should take the vaccine.

“We need to go on more sensitisation and advocacy.

“We need to make this vaccine available in all areas, different crannies of this country. Let it not be limited to areas that are accessible only.

“We have areas that are not very much accessible in the riverine areas in the Niger Delta, in the northern part of the country, the desertified areas.

“We need to reach out to the people. We should convince them.

“We should use the system that we have used before in getting our people vaccinated over the year. Our traditional rulers, our traditional institution have played very significant roles in enlightenment.

“Our clergies, our imams; this is something that we have to do because Nigeria is not an island, we are part of the global community.

“I believe that at the end of the day, we can only achieve the hard immunity that is desired if we are able to reach at least 70 to 75 per cent of those that are supposed to be vaccinated in the country,” he said.

Lawan congratulated the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 for working so hard to ensure that the vaccine was made available for Nigerians.

He however, urged the PTF to get more of the vaccine and variety of it in addition to AstraZeneca.