By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA–THE World Health Organisation,WHO has asked Nigeria to deepen its awareness programmes on COVID-19 vaccinations.

This was as it tasked the country to push towards meeting up with the 70% global target of COVID-19 vaccination coverage.

According to WHO,since no one was certain about when another variant would emerge,Nigeria must not relent in its efforts at ensuring that high number of its populace were fully vaccinated.

WHO Director, Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, Dr Kate O’Brien who spoke during an accessment visit by the WHO team to the Garki Primary Healthcare Facility in Abuja on Thursday, raised concerns that some of the patients she interacted with at the facility have not received COVID-19 vaccinatation.

According  to her, it was necessary for Nigeria to work harder towards widening the  vaccination coverage as new variants seem to emerge every four months.

She said, ” You have all the materials and supply. What is left is for the people to understand how important it is to be vaccinated. This is important because we’ve seen the waves of variants. They come in every four months. Nobody know if there is going to be another variant. This is an opportunity for us to ensure that everybody is vaccinated.

“We therefore cannot afford to drop our guard. Regardless of where you live, or your age,  you still need to get vaccinated when it’s your turn, with a complete course and booster dose if offered, and continue to take all the other preventive measures, both to protect yourself and others.

“Ending the pandemic requires us to get to much higher levels of vaccination in key target groups and it must include getting all vulnerable individuals and health care workers vaccinated as a priority.”

The WHO Regional Immunization Advisor for Africa, Dr Richard Mihigo, called on the Nigerian government to address misinformation on vaccines especially COVID-19 vaccinations, heighten the surveillance system and increase coverage for polio vaccination to protect  new born children.

“Additionally, misinformation and disinformation fuel mistrust. This puts health and lives at risk; undermines trust in science, institutions and health systems; and hinders the response to the pandemic.

“Whenever misinformation and disinformation clash with evidence-based science, another person is impeded from making the right decisions to protect their health. On our part,  we are working with the authorities to understand the barriers and challenges, how the international community will work with government to overcome them”, he added.

Independent Gavi board member, Prof. Helen Rees, disclosed that Gavi was supporting the Nigerian government in rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and increase routine immunization to prevent some of the commonest disease such as diarrhea and pneumonia amongst children.

Dr Nneka Onwu, Director, Primary Healthcare system at the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency identified challenges to include,  epileptic power supply for storage of vaccines and funding amongst others.

On her part, the Director, Primary Healthcare System at the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Nneka Onwu, listed  some of the challenges facing vaccination in Nigeria to include epileptic power supply for storage of vaccines and funding.

The delegates are in Nigeria to interact with the Nigerian Ministry of health and its agencies towards evaluating and assessing what has been done in the health sector in the past couple of years.

The mission is targeted at ensuring an accountability framework that was developed in 2018 between Nigeria and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, GAVI.