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COVID-19 vaccinations resume as NASS pleads with Resident Doctors to suspend strike

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General of NCDC (far right), in Abuja, as the Second Phase of COVID-19 Vaccinations Begins in Nigeria

*The Federal lawmakers plead with the resident doctors currently on strike to avail themselves of all opportunities of negotiations with the government for ‘ethical delivery’ of the Coronavirus vaccines in Nigeria

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Amid the resident doctors’ strike, the Federal Government Monday, August 16, 2021, commenced the administration of new vaccines as it began the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Nigeria.

ConsumerConnect had reported the second phase of the national vaccination programme was largely informed by the donated over four million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines by the United States Government.

Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, as well as other top government officials attended graced the flag off ceremony held at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Monday, in Abuja, FCT.

Others at the event include Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister for Health; Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, Minister of State for Health; Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC); and Prof. Aliyu Ahmed, Medical Director of the FMC.

Besides the four million Moderna doses, the Federal Government has also taken delivery of 177,600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 Vaccines for vaccinations in the country.

It explained the single-shot J&J Vaccine was acquired through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), with support from Afrexim Bank.

As Nigeria expects more of the J&J Vaccines in the country soon, the Minister for Health has also disclosed that the West African country has procured about 40 million doses of the J&J Vaccines through AVAT.

The J&J vaccines are expected to be deployed in hard-to-reach areas, in order to eliminate the need for travel for a second dose.

It is recalled the vaccination exercise had earlier been scheduled for August 10, but authorities later postponed it till Monday this week.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Honourable Minister for Information and Culture, had said that the postponement was due to “purely administrative” reasons in the past week.

NASS pleads with Resident Doctors to embrace dialogue to resolve issues

The National Assembly (NASS), in Abuja, has appealed to members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) currently on strike to welcome opportunities for addressing their grievances towards resuming work in the hospitals as quickly as possible.

The NASS Complex, in Abuja, FCT

It was gathered the Federal lawmakers Monday, August 16 that the doctors should embrace all overtures toward industrial harmony.

Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues in NASS, noted the legislators maintained that the rollout of phase two of Coronavirus vaccination programme could not be effectively achieved in the country without them.

The lawmaker said: “As we speak today, we have some sections of health workers who are not working. For ethical delivery of vaccines, we need health workers.

“Human resource is a huge challenge in our country. I want to call on our colleagues, who are on strike, to please avail themselves of all opportunities of negotiations that government has given.

“The resources they’re asking for have already been provided and are being processed; so I want to ask the resident doctors to please go back to work.”

Sen. Oloriegbe assured all Nigerians that the National Assembly is working collaboratively with the Executive arm of government and other stakeholders to resolve these human resource challenges in the country.

“It is a huge issue because if you have the money, if you have the materials; we need men to get healthcare delivered, and we assure Nigerians that we shall handle this,” he stated.

Mr. Mustapha, Chairman of PSC on COVID-19, also commended the health workers for their sacrifices toward tackling the pandemic.

He said: “We remain eternally grateful to your services, and I will lean my voice to the senator (Oloriegbe) when he called on resident doctors to respond to every invitation of negotiation and discussions, so that we can bring to an end the current strike.”

Mustapha as well commended the leadership of NASS for the support received by the then Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and now PSC, in crafting the COVID-19 response and its execution in the country.

The Federal Government recognised the contribution of development partners for “the solid support and confidence” they exhibited to PTF, and now PSC, and in convincing their countries and agencies to grant Nigeria maximum support in its activities as it approached a virus that was novel to the entire world.

The SGF also commended the press for demonstrating patriotism and engaging in the response as they have never done before.

“The press has toiled day and might; you have been on the frontline, committed yourselves and some of you have made the supreme sacrifice,” Mustapha added.

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