The consignment of the COVID-19 Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccines from the Federal Government has been delivered to the Kwara state government on Tuesday night.
The Permanent Secretary of the Kwara State Ministry of Health Dr. Abubakar Ayinla led the state government’s delegation to welcome the consignment at Ilorin International Airport at about 8.30 p.m.
Addressing newsmen during the event, the Executive Secretary Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency Dr. Nusirat Elelu said the state is excited to witness the delivery of the vaccines to support its fight against coronavirus.
“We are certainly very excited to receive these vaccines for Kwara. This is a very historic day in the history of not just Kwara but the whole of the country. This signifies that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” she told reporters at the airport.
“Covid-19 has ravaged the whole world in the last one year and I know that those that have lost loved ones or are down with COVID-19 or just recovered from COVID-19 will know that this is certainly a historic day for us.
“We expect our people to come out and get themselves protected (once the schedules have been released) because the vaccines have been proved to be effective against this infectious disease. This is an opportunity to protect our people against the deadly disease”.
Dr. Elelu disclosed that governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is expected to flag off the vaccination while frontline workers will be given priority during the vaccination.
“The vaccine is going to be administered in four phases. The first phase will target the front liners — our frontline health workers, people that work at the port of entries, members of the military and some of our strategic leaders. The reason we are also prioritizing our strategic leaders is for them to serve as an example to show the world that the vaccine is safe, effective and efficient.
“The administration of the vaccines will be launched within the next few days.” Elelu said.