As the Country and indeed Cross River State enters fully into the third wave of the COVID19 pandemic with rising number of cases and death, it is important for Cross Riverians to come out in large number and take up the vaccines which are very limited!
Officially flagging of the Event, state Commissioner for Health Dr. Edu thanked the state Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, for providing support as well as the health workers for ensuring the state achieved 117 per cent coverage of the target population during the last exercise making Cross River state to lead in Nigeria in terms of vaccine coverage. She thank Cross Riverians for their cooperation assuring the Federal Government that the vaccines sent to CRS will soon be exhausted and the will need to mop from other states experiencing vaccine Hesitance and deploy to Cross River as before.
Edu urged residents of the state to come out enmasse for vaccination rather than take the pandemic as a joke, as cases of the pandemic is on the increase. “Cross Riverians should just come out enmasse and get vaccinated as we are presently in the 3rd wave of the pandemic in the state.
“The number of confirmed cases through the PCR is rising, so it’s important for people to come out for vaccination immediately. Beyond the vaccination, we must continue to observe all the COVID-19 protocols.”
The commissioner added that people who have died of COVID-19 are those who have not taken the vaccine, so people should come out and take it.
Speaking at the vaccination flag off ceremony, the Director General, DG, Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency, CRSPHCDA, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong, stated that a total of 105,000 doses of Mordena for first timers and 11,000 doses of Astrazeneca for those requiring second doses have been sent to the state. She stated that about 120,000 people in the state are expected to be vaccinated, even as she called on residents of the state to come forward for the excercise to avoid mutation of the virus.
Ekpeyong said, “The COVID-19 keeps mutating and has caused a lot of havoc globally, so this underscores the need to ensure people are vaccinated.
The DG Cross River State Primary Health Care Dr Ekpeyong commended health workers in the state for ensuring that the state emerged the best state, saying that they want to maintain that position during this 2nd phase exercise.
In her earlier remarks, the state immunization officer, Joy Chabo, stated that the state recieved the highest number of vaccines in the South South, because of its impressive performance during the last phase of the vaccination.
The immunization officer maintained that even though Delta variant has not yet been found in the state, it’s an opportunity for people to come out for vaccination to ensure the state has immunity.
Also speaking, the World Health Organization, WHO, representative, Dr. Pella Umar, lauded the zeal of the state in fighting the virus, which ensured it recorded 117 per cent during the first round. He praised the diligence of the Commissioner and DG, noting that their commitment has placed Cross River state in lime light.
He called on all to embrace the vaccination so as to boost the immunity of the entire population by at least 95 per cent.
Unicef Rep and NPHCDA rep we’re all on hand to monitor the swift process of registration and vaccine administration
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