The Oyo State Primary Health Care Board has announced that the distribution of the AstraZeneca COVID19 Vaccine will be done in four phases.
The Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr Muyideen Olatunji, announced this on Wednesday at the official flag-off of the distribution in Oyo state during which the Executive Governor of the State, Engr Seyi Makinde received the first dose to be administered in the state
According to Olatunji, the first phase of the vaccination exercise is meant for frontline workers. The frontline workers are the health care workers and some media personnel.
He added that the second phase will be the most vulnerable in the state. These are people who are above the age of 50 and have a comorbidity, that is those who are above 50 and have one illness or the other will be considered next.
Olatunji noted that because the vaccine is not so much in abundance, the state has to prioritise its use and the people we can give it to.
The third phase according to him will be for people above the age of 18 and with comorbidity or not, they will be captured in this level.
While the fourth phase will be for every person, those that were missed or are yet to be captured with an ailment or without ailment will be vaccinated at this level.
He, however, stated that everyone to be vaccinated must be above 18 as anyone below 18 is not factored into the mainstream.
He further explained that every person will get a minimum of 2 doses. The first dose is to prime the person and the second dose will act as a booster to confer immunity on the individual.
He said, “Vaccine will only trigger antigen and antibody reactions in our system. These antibodies that have been triggered in our body will now come forward to protect us.
“The essence of the vaccine is to expose our bodies to the virus so that our body will develop soldiers that will protect us.”
He also urged people of the state to disregard misconceptions being spread about the vaccine on social media.
Dr Olatunji warned that there will surely be some reactions but noted that the state government has made provision for drugs to combat the expected side effects to be made available in all primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities that will be administering the vaccine.
He said, “These reactions are known as adverse effects following immunization and we expect some risks.
“Anyone who shows any side effects of the drug should be brought back to the health centre.
“The state government has dedicated a huge amount of money to procure some drugs to combat these side effects and these drugs will be positioned in facilities that will be administering this immunization.
“These side effects can range from mild ones like headache and fever. No one should go home and start applying iceblock on the point of injection or rub aboliki.
“The health workers are also taking every precautionary measure to ensure that the vaccine is always stored at the right temperature.”
He finally encouraged all residents of the state to register for the vaccine online adding that a manual data capturing will be done before and after vaccination.
According to him, both manual and online data will be synergized and synchronised together and finally uploaded to the national data collection network.
He further added that a bar code will be provided that will be used for E-passport for those that want to travel out of the country.
