From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, his Deputy, Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele, and other members of the Ogun State Executive Council have received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
They took the first jabs of the vaccine at a brief ceremony a couple of hours after taking delivery of 50,000 units of the vaccine, donated by the World Health Organisation and the Federal Government, on Monday night.
A statement issued on Tuesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kunle Somorin, also disclosed that a former governor of the state and a National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Olusegun Osoba, took his dose of the vaccine on Tuesday at the Governor’s office Clinics at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta.
Dr Abimbola Olaitan, a long-standing frontline worker, who has been managing the state-owned Isolation Centre in Abeokuta since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the first to take the vaccine in the State on Monday.
Thereafter, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, administered the first jab of the vaccine on the governor and was followed by the deputy governor and other members of the cabinet took turns to get theirs.
The governor, after being administered his first dose of the vaccine, appreciated President Muhammad Buhari for providing the leadership that has enabled the country to receive almost four million vaccines, saying that the leadership being provided by the president in the last thirteen months is worthy of emulation.
Governor Abiodun, while noting that the vaccination was a symbolic exercise done to show to the people how safe the vaccines are for the people, assured those that would be administered with the vaccine that the state will get the next set of vaccines to be administered as a booster dose very soon.
‘We’ve all taken this vaccine so as to dispel misinformation. There should be no reluctance on the part of all of us to take this vaccine. We also believe that this further underscores that we believe in this vaccine and it is important as we have been advised by specialists worldwide that the vaccine is safe; the vaccines have been shown to reduce the severity of this disease.
‘However, we’ve been warned that the full benefit of the vaccine can only be enjoyed when you’ve taken the second dosage, even after this first dose, you must continue to use your face mask and continue to social distance, it is not a license to begin to move about without your face mask,’ the governor said.
Speaking after taking his jab, former Governor Osoba said he took it upon himself to come for the vaccination to encourage others not to hesitate to take the vaccine.
‘There is absolutely no risk or danger in taking the COVID-19 vaccine. I recommend the vaccine to everyone in the state. If I have taken the vaccine at the age of 82, there is no need for anyone to fear. I am confident the vaccine wouldn’t harm anyone,’ he assured.
While congratulating the governor and the state government for being the first state to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the former governor said that he was at the Governor’s Office to show example and leadership.
‘I want to congratulate the governor and government of Ogun State for being the first state to receive this vaccine and I have come to show an example, leadership and to convince our people in Ogun State that the vaccine is safe and that they should ignore many of the misinformation that is going on the internet about the risk in taking this vaccine,’ the ex-governor stated.