The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Nigeria. There have been misconceptions, misgivings and mixed feelings about the acceptance of the vaccines. Nigerian government says frontline health workers would be the first group of people to take the vaccines. Tina George in Nigeria and Jamila Akweley Okertchiri in Ghana x-ray the perception of some health workers to know what they feel about the development.
By Tina Asishana in Nigeria and Jamila Okertchiri in Ghana
The Federal government of Nigeria has said that frontline health workers, the elderly, persons with comorbidity and targeted police and immigration officers would be the first set of Nigerians to receive the awaited Covid-19 vaccines.
In a virtual meeting with Journalists, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) disclosed that 40 per cent of Nigerians are being targeted to be immunized in 2021 while in 2022, an additional 30 per cent of Nigerians would be targeted.
There have been mixed feelings over who would be the first to receive the vaccines from all quarters especially with the wide range of myths and misconceptions being developed about the vaccines.
While some health workers have not shown any optimism in receiving the vaccines, others have applauded the government for putting the safety of the frontline health workers first regarding the vaccine.
After the government has made it known about the first set of people who will receive the vaccines, some of the health workers who spoke with The Nation wondered why the Executive and Legislative arm of government should not be the first group of people to receive the vaccines.
The immediate past President of the Nigeria Association of Pediatric Nurses, Comrade Lawal Aiyedun Olubumi told The Nation that it would be best of the Executive like the President, Vice President and Ministers to first partake of it instead of using health workers to test how effective it may be.
According to Aiyedun, every health workers when asked by the government state their willingness to take the vaccine but she added that they are just playing along and that when it comes to the time, a lot of health workers may not go for the COVID-19 vaccination.
“The healthcare professionals are not comfortable in being pronounced the first receive the COVID-19 vaccines. I and the other of my colleagues are of the option that the vaccines should first be given to the President and members of the executive. There is denial even among health workers. For everyone, they are just playing along. Even if they say what the government want to hear, what they will say to their clients who are the patients will be different.”
Aiyedun said that not every health worker is comfortable with what they have been hearing about the vaccines despite the persuasion from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), “I do not think that 10 per cent of the health workers are ready to take the COVID-19 vaccines.”
Sampling the opinion of other health workers, it is obvious that they are divided, while some support health workers being the first to take the vaccines, others are reluctant in being the first as they say that they will like to observe how the vaccines affect those who take it first before they involve themselves in taking it.
For Dr Tunde Ayilola, he will gladly take the COVID-19 vaccines when it is made available for health workers saying that it is the only way he can practise his profession in this COVID-19 era safely and with a peace of mind.
Ayilola who is a Dental Surgeon said that his profession exposed him to treating patients at close range adding that despite being trained on the procedure involved in testing people for COVID-19, he is still scared of contracting the virus.
“As a health worker, I had the opportunity of testing hundreds of people, some of whom tested positive. It is very important for me as a dentist to take extra care in patients handling during these uncertain times.
“The onus is on me to beef up my infection control practice. On some occasions, I have had to postpone some treatment procedures just to ensure that we limit the transmission of the virus. Fortunately, I did not test positive for COVID 19 at any point in time.
“Speaking about the vaccines, in my own view, I believe that health care workers should be the first set of people to receive the vaccine. This is because we are highly predisposed to making contact with a lot of patients who have contracted the virus. I believe that the vaccine has been well formulated and has undergone the needed testing before its approval and I am ready to receive the vaccine when it is made available.”
For Dr Isaac Olufadewa who is a medical doctor, the decision to give health workers the vaccine is a step in the right direction especially as healthcare professionals are a high-risk group adding that they should be prioritized in the roll-out of the vaccine.
Olufadewa is confident about the vaccine safety stating that evidence has shown that the vaccine has gone through several phases of clinical trials.
The Niger state Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr Usman Abubakar Bosso confirmed that the majority of the health workers who are his members in the state are not in agreement that they should be the first to receive the vaccines when it comes adding that a lot is being done to convince them.
“As the Niger state Chairman, I have gone round to talk to my members about it and they all have mixed feelings. Almost 60 per cent are not in agreement with being the first to receive the vaccine.
“Although government point is valid as we are the first group of people who usually come in contact with those infected with COVID-19 but individually, as health workers, a lot of them are saying no to it.”
Bosso said that he is still trying to convince them on how important it would be for them to receive it, “since there is no law that it is compulsory for health workers to receive it, we can only try to make them believe in the safety of the vaccine.
“Everyone has their own opinion and as a Union, we cannot force them to accept it when they don’t want to and the government will not be able to force the health workers who do not want to receive it.”
The NMA Chairman lamented that the controversy surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine is much and is making people doubt its authenticity.
He stated that in Niger state, the NMA has been having continuous education for the health workers in other to break the myth surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine adding that this would endeavour and prepare the health workers for their safety and well-being.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib has embarked on several sensitization meeting and virtual group meetings in other to keep everyone abreast of the happenings about the vaccines and quell any doubt of the health workers and stakeholders.
In Ghana, COVID-19 cases in Ghana have soared since January 2021 with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) recording an average of 600 cases a day.
So far, a total of 79,165 Covid-19 confirmed cases, with 71,025 recoveries and 568 deaths have been recorded by health authorities.
The current situation has given rise to the number of COVID-19 cases frontline health workers have to manage at treatment centers.
“Our beds are full for critical and severe Covid-19 patients and we are getting more exposed to this new Covid-19 strain,” a nurse at the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital Covid-19 treatment centre says anonymously.
The government as part of measures to curb the spread of the virus has announced the roll out of a Covid-19 vaccine.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during his 20th Covid-19 national address announced that his government and its development partners have put in a request for the procurement of 6 million Covid-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility.
The vaccines, which will be procured by the sector agency with advice from an established expert committee, are aimed at protecting the most vulnerable population against the virus.
The first batch of vaccines have arrived Ghana with the remaining batches estimated to arrive latest by June, 2021.
The Programme Manager for the Expanded Programme on Immunization, Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Kwame Amponso-Achiano, says distribution strategies for the Coronavirus Vaccine would be based on segmentation of the population.
He states that the initial target of 20 million persons will include: health workers, persons with underlying health conditions, security personnel, and other essential service providers, persons above 60 years, second cycle and tertiary students, teachers at all levels, specialized groups on national assignments, Executive/Legislature/Judiciary/MDAs, Media.
According to him, the delivery strategy include static, outreach, mobile, campout or combination.
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Pharmaceutical Society Ghana (PSGH) have pledge their support for the smooth roll out of the vaccine as their members are at high risks of getting infected.
Already, over 2000 health care workers have been infected with Covid-19 with several others dying of the infection.
“I will take the vaccine any day any time,” said Kobby Blay a nurse at the COVID-19 treatment centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
For him the vaccine is his protection against the virus he is exposed to everyday in his line of duty.
