……COVID-19: WHO decries 8% vaccination coverage among health workers in Anambra
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed displeasure over eight per cent COVID-19 vaccination coverage recorded among over 4000 health workers in Anambra state.
Dr Adamu Abdul-Nasir, State Coordinator, WHO, made the assertion on Wednesday, at the State Level Engagement for the Canada Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity (CanGIVE), Project Grant Implemention on COVID-19 Response.
Abdul-Nasir was represented by Mrs Truth Ezeudoye, WHO Technical Assistant on COVID-19 and Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response.
He said: “As at Oct. 8, Nigeria has vaccinated 80.7 million persons, out of which 1.5 million are health workers, 4.2 are frontline workers and 31 million are persons above 50 years (elderly).
“In Anambra, it is very sad to note that out of over 4,000 health workers, only eight per cent have completed their COVID-19 vaccination.
“Health workers administer the vaccine and yet a high number of them have not been vaccinated. Is it that they are doubting the potency of the vaccine? This a major challenge.
”Anambra was selected as one of the 15 implementing states for the CanGIVE Project. The low uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine is worrisome, especially among health workers and other vulnerable groups.”
Abdul-Nasir said the three months project was to support high priority risk groups which included health workers, pregnant women, persons living with co-mobidities and the elderly.
He said though, Anambra recorded 90 per cent vaccination coverage among the elderly which made it the second highest state in the country but more needed to be done to scale up coverage.
“The goal of this project is to scale up COVID-19 service delivery and uptake among residents especially the high priority risk groups to build head immunity and reduce incidence of COVID-19 related deaths and serious illnesses,” he said.
In his address, Dr Placid Uliagbafusi, state Director, Disease and Immunisation, lamented that Anambra was the lowest performing state among the 15 states selected for the CanGIVE project.
He said the engagement involved stakeholders and community influencers to spread the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination and increase coverage in the state.
“Unfortunately, we, the health workers are the worse culprits in terms of rejecting the vaccine. We have to show people that we have accepted the vaccine we are administering to them.
”We are here today, to chart the way forward on how to take the message to the Churches, Mosques, markets, town unions and communities to eliminate vaccine hesitancy and increase uptake,” he said.
Also speaking, Mrs Uju Onwuegbuzina, Health Educator, A State Primary Health Care Development Agency, said there was need for social mobilisation to create demand for the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine and debunk myths around the vaccine uptake.
“The involvement of mon-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations and the media, is critical to ensuring all-inclusive coordination to achieve the full implementation of the project in Anambra,” she said.
