Enugu State government has commenced COVID-19 vaccination in the state, starting with frontline health workers at the ESUT Teaching Hospital Isolation and Treatment Centre, Parklane, Enugu.
Speaking during the exercise, which kicked off on Friday, the Executive Secretary, Enugu State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. George Ugwu, said that the decision to start with frontline health workers was in line with the protocol of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to give priority to those heath personnel working in the isolation and treatment centres.
The executive secretary confirmed that Enugu State government received 65,410 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, on Wednesday at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
He said that his agency i had trained the health personnel that will administer the vaccines, among other preparations.
According to him, over 102 members of the team will handle the exercise in the first phase.
The next stage of the vaccination, he said, after the frontline health workers, will be for key stakeholders of political, religious and traditional institutions.
Dr Ugwu explained that the first phase of the vaccination is also going to be focusing mostly on other health workers beyond the frontline health workers because of their vulnerability to diseases in the health establishments where they work.
Speaking, the Commissioner for health, Dr. Emmanuel Obi, disclosed that the first set of the frontline health workers who received the vaccines, Dr. Chikezie Obasi and Dr. Okechukwu Ogbodo, started work on March 27, 2020, as first responders to the first two cases reported in the state.
Dr. Obi noted that the workers put up a brave fight, which he said was fruitful. Other frontline workers who received the jabs include a nurse, Nnenna Eze and Chidi Ikekpeazu.
Responding on behalf of other recipients, , Dr. Ogbodo thanked Ugwuanyi for his commitment to the fight against COVID-19 in Enugu State, stressing that “the experience of being the first person to receive this vaccine in Enugu State is overwhelming”.
He encouraged the people of the state to take the vaccine saying: “I can tell you that almost 30 minutes after taking the vaccine I am hale and hearty; no reaction. So I want to encourage everybody in Enugu State to come and take this vaccine”.
