The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) has issued out a warning to those that intend to hoard or hijack the vaccination exercise warning them to jettison the plan to avoid a disastrous outing.
The national leader of the association who is regarded to as NAS Capoon in some quarters, Mr. Abiola Owoaje, in a statement on behalf of the group titled ‘COVID-19 Vaccination: Averting a Disastrous Exercise’, warned the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to stick to its phased plan for the inoculation exercise.
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‘We implore the NPHCDA to resist any pressure to jettison this laudable plan by ensuring fairness and transparency in the inoculation exercise. The safety and health of Nigerians should be the overriding interest to guide the exercise. The ugly incident of hoarding of COVID-19 palliatives which were denied the vulnerable segment of the society and the hijack of medical kits donated by the billionaire, Jack Ma, by some political interests must not repeat itself,’ he warned.
While calling on NPHCDA to ensure its website works efficiently to ease the smooth registration of Nigerians, Owoaje advocated a multi-sectoral collaboration between federal government agencies and the 36 state governments for a coordinated action to achieve a hitch-free inoculation exercise.
According to him the recent busting of a fake COVID-19 vaccine distribution center in China and South Africa by the International Police Organisation (INTERPOL) couple with the alarm that there may be more centers across the globe is a wake- up call for the federal government to put necessary structures in place and place all relevant security and regulatory agencies on alert to prevent fake vaccines from being imported into the country.
Owoaje went further to challenge the political class and the NPHCDA to step up its awareness campaign on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine added that the arrival of the vaccine should not be enough reason to jettison existing public health measures meant to control the spread of the virus.
‘It is a welcome development that within a 24 hour period, 2.3 million Nigerians were reported to have registered through the NPHCDA online registration, proof of growing enthusiasm among Nigerians. But we would need to add that there are still a vast majority of Nigerians that do not believe in the existence of the virus or fully trust the efficacy of the vaccine and therefore, hesitancy in vaccination is still a veritable obstacle to whatever efforts that have been deployed. The political class should denounce and call to order some of its members who are out to trivialize the existence of the virus and the vaccine rollout. NPHCDA should not relent in its communication campaign and should vigorously enlist the support of traditional rulers, state actors, non-governmental organizations, and other online and offline influencers to convince Nigerians about the proven safety and efficacy of the vaccine,’ Owoaje submitted.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK