21042021

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021 — 7
Go for COVID-19 vaccination, scientists tell Nigerians
.Prioritise procurement of doses to achieve herd immunity, NARD tasks FG
NPHCDA vaccinates 1,114, 408 persons with 1st dose
.By Sola Ogundipe &
Chioma Obinna
NIGERIANS have
been admonished to
take the COVID-19
jabswhen it is their turn
to be vaccinated.
A renowned professor of
virology and former
president of the Nigeria
Academy of Science, NAS
Professor Oyewale Tomori
who made the call on
Tuesday in Lagos
however warned that a
3rd wave of COVID-19
infections was imminent if
Nigeria becomes
complacent.
Tomori who spoke in
Lagos at a media
roundtable, themed:
“Journalism, Pandemic
and Vaccines: Where do
we go from here?”,
organised by the NAS, in
collaboration with
Vitafoam Nigeria Plc,
urged Nigerians to go for
their shots as directed as
soon as it is their turn to
be vaccinated.
“Take the vaccine, do not
debate it because there is
no debate about this. We
should continue to take
the vaccine.
“The 3rd wave may
come if we do not change
our attitude. Although we
are currently witnessing a
decrease in infections, the
number of new cases may
spike in the coming
months,” he cautioned.
In his presentation
entilted “COVID-19
Vaccines: To take or not to
take”, Tomori said the
protective effect of the
vaccine is not immediate
because it takes some
time for it to begin to work
in the body.
“When you are
vaccinated, the vaccine
does not begin to work
immediately, it takes time.
The day that you take the
vaccine is not the day that
you develop immunity, it
takes between 10-12 days
for the vaccine to work.”
According to Tomori,
vaccines do not prevent
exposure to COVID-19
infection because they
were not designed to stop
infection.
“So if you are not
wearing your mask or
you wear it carelessly, you
can get infected. The
vaccine does not stop the
infection, it prevents the
infection from becoming
disease and the disease
from becoming death.
“Prevention does not
have to do with the
vaccine, it has to do with
you, the individual. It is
your actions or inactions
such as wearing your
mask and social
distancing that prevents
infection. If you get
L-R: Dr. Olakinka Oyegbile, Media Consultant; Mr. Sola Owoade, Commercial
Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc; Prof. Ekanem Braide, President, Nigerian Academy
of Science; Prof. Musbau Akanji, Public Affairs Secretary, NAS; Prof. Oyewale
Tomori, Chairman, Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee ion COVID-19 and
Executive Secretary, NAS, Dr. Oladoyin Odubanjo, during the meedia round table
held in Lagos, on Tuesday. Photo: Kehinde Shonola
exposed you will get
infected,” he stressed.
Explaining that
vaccination is not the
same as immunisation,
Tomori described
immunisation as
successful vaccination.
He said the efficacy of
one vaccine can only be
comparable with the
efficacy of another vaccine
if both have been tested
with the same parameters.
“The vaccines must be
run under the same
conditions in order for
their eficacy to be
comparable. You cannot
compare efficacy of
vaccines except the tests
are done under the same
conditions.
“The WHO actually says
says that each vaccine
must have at least 50
percent efficacy in order
to be useful.”
Calling for effective
scientific communication,
Tomori said that the
information that is
produced by the federal
government should be
more proactive than
reactive in order to narrow
the communication gap.
There should be more
education and
enlightenment.
“You can achieve
immunity through herd
immunity but research
shows that the level of
herd immunity
experienced so far is
lower than expected.
“So you need to wear
your mask, herd
immunity is not the
solution to the virus, it is
vaccines.
“Covid is worse than the
flu and because of the way
that the virus is spreading
it is neccessary to wear
your mask.”
On the issue of risks
associated with the
vaccine, Tomori argued
that there uis no vaccine
without rists. he mentions
the level of risk associated
with the polio and yellow
fever vaccines.
In her own contribution,
the President of the NAS,
Prof Ekanem Braide, who
noted that the media was
critical to stamping out the
virus, said the world and
Nigeria in particular,
needs to speed up the t
exit of this tiny virus that
has caused so much havoc
globally.
Prioritise
procurement of
vaccine doses
— NARD
The President of the
National Association of
Resident Doctors, NARD,
Dr Okhuaihesuyi Uyilawa,
has stressed the need for
the Federal government to
prioritise the procurement
of more vaccines for
Nigerians so that the
country to achieve herd
immunity.
Making the call in a chat
with Vanguard, Uyilawa,
said to address vaccine
apathy in Nigeria, the
government needs to do
more advocacy and
enlighten Nigerians of the
benefit of being vaccinated
with the COVID-19
vaccines.
The NARD President,
who insisted that Nigerians
stand to gain more when
vaccinated with COVID-19
vaccine, lamented that the
pandemic has dealt with
people across the world and
every country would want
to keep their citizens safe.
Continuing, Uyilawa
who acknowledged that the
National Primary
Healthcare Development
Agency, NPHCDA, has
done a good enlightening
Nigerians on the
advantages of vaccination,
added: “The advantages
are more beneficial to
Nigerians than the side
effects and the apathy
being experienced across
the world.
“There is apathy towards
getting the vaccines and
there are plenty of videos
all over the world telling
you about the side effects
but I have encouraged my
parents and every member
of my family to take the
vaccine.
“I have also taken mine
and I am encouraging all
Nigerians to also try and
get theirs. It will go a long
way to help the country get
the required herd
immunity.”
On whether the
vaccination should be made
compulsory, he said:
“Everybody has a choice to
want to get good healthcare
or to get vaccinated.
Putting it into law for it to
be made compulsory is like
bridging people’s own
right. Which we don’t
normally want to do in the
medical world.
“For everything in
medicine you need the
patients consent and in
medicine, patient’s consent
is respected at all times. If
you bridge their consent it
is something you can be
sued for and there are
consequences for bridging
their consent.
“Government can do more
of advocacy to tell them
what they stand to benefit
by getting vaccination than
the apathy. That will do
better work for all of us.”
Reacting to agitation by
some European countries
for vaccine passport,
Uyilawa said It is an
obvious truth that vaccine
passport would be required
at some point in the future
because all government
would want to protect their
citizens.
“I am encouraging all
Nigerians to get the
vaccine. This is because for
those that travel out, at one
point people will be asked
to show their COVID-19
card just like yellow fever.
Definitely, it will become
one of the criteria if anyone
is trying to get out of the
country.
Further, he called on the
Federal government to pay
more attention to
healthcare as well as
procure more COVID-19
vaccines to avert possible
shortage in the country.
“Government needs to
pay more priority to health
sector because health is
wealth. When you get your
citizens vaccinated that
means you are trying to
encourage and develop
your economy.
It is a healthy economy
that leads to productivity. It
is very important that for
government to pay more
priority to the health of
Nigerians.
I am encouraging those
in authority to buy more
vaccines and channel all
special intervention funds
to the health sector for better
healthcare services and
getting the required herd
immunity.”
Nigeria vaccinates
1,114,408 persons
with 1st dose
As of Tuesday, April 20,
2021, a total of 1,114, 408
persons representing 55.4
percent of the eligible
persons targeted with the
Astrazeneca COVID-19
vaccine have been
administered their first
dose, according to an
update released by the
National Primary Health
Care Development
Agency, NPHCDA.
A breakdown of the
update contained in an
Electronic Management of
Immunisation Data, EMID,
System, showed that
Lagos remains ahead in
the exercise with 209,734
persons vaccinated.
Trailing Lagos are Kano,
58,749; Kaduna, 57,241;
Ogun, 53,286; the FCT,
50,541; Katsina, 39,523;
Bauchi, 36,308; Oyo,
38,978; Ondo, 31,506;
Kwara, 31,230; Edo, 29,468;
Jigawa, 28,451 among
others.
In response to the global
shortfall of COVID-19
vaccines and the late
commencement of the
vaccination in some States,
the NPHCDA is expanding
the eligibility period
between the first and
second doses of the vaccine
from 12 weeks to between
8 to 12 weeks.
The agency said it is in
line with the scientific
recommendation provided
by the WHO’s Strategic
Advisory Group of Experts,
SAGE, on immunisation
that the two doses of the
vaccine be given at 8-12
weeks intervals.
WELLNESS: Fitbit debuts Luxe
Health Tracker
By Juliet Umeh
A
NEW fashion-forward
fitness and wellness
tracker, Luxe, designed to
help people take a more
holistic approach to their
health and wellness has
been introduced by Fitbit.
According to the
management of Fitbit,
Luxe offers the motivation
and support needed to stay
healthy in today’s world
with everything from stress
management tools to
automatic activity and sleep
tracking – all in an
effortlessly chic bracelet
design.
According to the Co-
Founder of Fitbit, James
Park, the tracker also gives
insights into individuals’
wellbeing through the
Health Metrics dashboard
in the Fitbit app to help
them identify changes,
which could be caused by
increased stress or fatigue.
Users get a six-month trial
to Fitbit premium for added
support, motivation and
deeper analysis of their
data.
Park said: “Over the past
year, we’ve had to think
differently about our health
and wellness from keeping
an eye out for possible
COVID-19 symptoms to
managing the ongoing
stress and anxiety of
today’s world. Even
though we are starting to
see positive changes, it has
never been more important
to control your holistic
health.
“That’s why we’ve
doubled down on our
efforts to introduce
innovative tools and
insights to support you in
staying mentally well and
physically active. We’ve
made major technological
advancements with Luxe,
creating a smaller, slimmer,
beautifully designed
tracker packed with these
advanced features – some
that were previously only
available with our
smartwatches – and
providing access to these
tools to even more people
around the globe.”
With Luxe, he explained
that Fitbit is bringing its
innovative stress
management tools to
trackers for the first time –
to support users no matter
what life throws their way.