Lagos Shuts Down All COVID-19 Vaccination Centres

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According to a report by Vanguard, the Lagos State government has shut down all COVID-19 vaccination centres across the state even as it ended the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination campaign with 257, 756 persons vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the state said it has come out of the 2nd wave of the pandemic successfully.

The State government acted following the directive of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, NPHCDA, that States should stop vaccination after administering half of the doses supplied to them to give opportunity for the second dose of the already vaccinated persons.

The first phase of the exercise which began in Lagos on March 12, 2021 took an average of 20 days.

In a press statement signed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi said the completed exercise would ensure that at least 1 per cent of Lagos residents receive the full complement of doses required to enable the protection the vaccine promises.

He said the target to achieve effective herd immunity was the vaccination of at least 60 per cent of the Lagos State population.

The State Commissioner for Health said the exercise ended on Tuesday 13th April 2021 and consequently, the government has shut down its entire vaccination centres.

With the number vaccinated in Lagos so far, the state has overshot half of the 507,000 doses allocated to it.

It could be recalled that Lagos State received 507,000 doses of the 3.92 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine facilitated through the COVAX Facility to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Abayomi said: “Lagos State inoculated 257,756 persons, as of the 15th of April 2021, consisting of health workers, frontline workers including; security agents, ports of entry staff, judiciary, petrol station workers, contingency workers and strategic leaders.

“The government went a step further to vaccinate willing pensioners, people aged 70 and above, teachers and journalists during the same period. Lagos is the only state that has inoculated more than 200,000 residents during this period.”

Abayomi said the remaining doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine have been reserved at the Lagos State Cold Chain Store for the 2nd dose exercise, which would commence on the 28th of May, 2021, following the expiration of the 8-12 weeks interval as required by the manufacturers.

He encouraged Lagosians to check their vaccination cards for their next appointment dates and where possible to try to go to the same health facilities where they got their initial dose for their second dose.

“There is no need for citizens who have received the first dose to pre-register before going to the health facility for the second dose because their already captured details will only be updated with additional information after vaccination.

Vaccine doses expire 9th June

“The vaccines are due to expire on 9th July 2021. Our monitoring and evaluation quality assurance activity indicates that our cold chain distribution logistics has been maintained ensuring the integrity of the vaccines.

“As previously stipulated and according to the strategy of the Federal Government through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, the COVID-19 vaccinations will be in four phases.

“Phase two will cover persons aged 50 years and above as well as those living with co-morbidities who are between 18-49 years of age. Phase three will be activated thereafter for people in the LGAs with the highest infections of the disease and those who missed phases one and two. Phase four will cover other eligible populations as more vaccines become available. The date of commencement of the Phase Two vaccination will be announced by the Federal Government in due course.”

Continuing, the Commissioner explained that of the 257,756 persons inoculated as of the 15th of April 2021, 59,444 (23.1 per cent) were health workers, 109,809 (42.6 per cent) were essential workers and 88,503 (34.3 per cent) were strategic leaders.

“Our gender distribution data indicated that we have vaccinated more females than males; with 131,283 females representing 50.9 percent and 126,473 males representing 49.1 percent vaccinated as of April 15th, 2021.”

Top 6 LGAs with highest vaccinations

“According to our evaluation report, Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Ikeja, Kosofe, Alimosho and Surulere are the top six LGAs with the highest number of persons vaccinated. 28,257 and 25,094 persons were vaccinated in Eti-Osa and Lagos Mainland.

In Ikeja LGA, we vaccinated 23,194 persons; in Kosofe LGA, 19,398 people received the COVID vaccine. For Alimosho and Surulere, 18,954 and 14,963 persons were vaccinated.

Apapa, Amuwo-Odofin, Badagry, Epe, and Ibeju-Lekki local governments have the least number of citizens vaccinated, with less than 8,000 persons vaccinated for each.

“So far, following the administration of the first dose of the vaccine to 257,756 persons, just a few of the persons vaccinated experienced what is termed adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) or adverse event of special interest (AESI) characterised by pain at the injection site, fever or body pains lasting 24 to 48 hours and anaphylactic shock. “

He said the state government were being extremely diligent for blood coagulation disorders given the prevailing international scientific attention to the possibility of increased risk of developing blood clotting disorders and two cases are being investigated.

“It is important in the interest of scientific knowledge to be able to attribute any blood clotting problems directly to the administration of the vaccine.”

He further disclosed that the State Government has robust surveillance systems to effectively monitor and track untoward events.

“I would like to urge anyone who experiences any adverse events to call the number of the LGA Disease Surveillance Notification written in front of the vaccination card so that such cases can be thoroughly investigated and monitored.”

Lessons learned

Abayomi noted that  challenges encountered  during the vaccination drive, would be addressed before the 2nd phase of the vaccination drive.

Among the challenges is  the need to perfect the digital platform that would ensure scheduling of clients to prevent overcrowding at the facilities, which leads to opportunists taking advantage of the chaos that may ensue.

Others are continuous active risk communication to manage the expectation of the residents, educate them as to the need to properly monitor adverse events and report them through the official channels.

Lagos out of 2nd wave successfully

The Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi has said that Lagos State which has consistently been the epicentre of Nigeria has come out of the second wave successfully.

“The government is not relaxing on its oars and is preparing assiduously for all eventualities.

Mr Governor is committed to achieve herd immunity for its population through the vaccination exercise and Lagos State will work with the NPHCDA and other potential stakeholders to ensure a successful COVID vaccination campaign that would ensure Lagos State is able to withstand or mitigate the 3rd wave.

“In line with the Federal Government’s strategy of curbing the spread of the global pandemic and securing the public health, Lagos State Government through its Technical Working Group on the Vaccination Strategy and the Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board carried out the vaccination of its residents under the supervision and strict protocols of the NPHCDA.

NPHCDA carries out 1,133,325 vaccinations

An update released by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, on Wednesday showed that a total of 1,133,325 eligible Nigerians have so far been vaccinated with the first dose, representing 56.3 per cent of the proportion vaccinated.

A breakdown of the NPHCDA update contained in an Electronic Management of Immunisation Data System, further revealed that Lagos is leading in the exercise with 218,174 persons vaccinated.

Four other states trailing Lagos are Kano 59,040; Kaduna, 58,026; Ogun, 53,314 and FCT, 52,348.

Other states that have recorded 5-digit figures in the exercise are Oyo, 40,122; Katsina, 39,646; Bauchi, 36,458; Ondo, 31,579; Kwara, 31,260; Rivers, 29,926; Edo, 29685; Plateau, 28,922; Jigawa, 28,901; Niger, 27, 449; Gombe, 27,354; Ekiti, 23,434; Benue, 22,727; Borno, 22,081; Delta, 21,859; Osun, 21,387; Yobe, 21,123; Adamawa, 20,446; Imo, 19,803; Nasarawa, 17,927; Kebbi, 16,146; Zamfara, 16,088; Cross River, 15, 710; Enugu, 13,076; Akwa Ibom, 12,729; Kogi, 12,040; Sokoto, 11,975; Anambra, 11,755; Abia, 11,163 and Bayelsa, 10,751. Ebonyi 9,567 and  and Taraba 9,334.

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Source: Vanguard