Abia Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has received his first dose of Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The governor was vaccinated by his Personal Physician, Mike Enyinnaya, at the Government House, Umuahia. Ikpeazu, after receiving the vaccine, encouraged those within the age bracket recommended to avail themselves of the opportunity of being vaccinated.
According to him, the deployment of vaccine as a device to fight COVID-19 is a global decision endorsed by the World Health Organisation and captured by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control which is the lead agency in Nigeria that is battling COVID-19 and charged everybody to key into the agenda.
Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Chinagozie Adindu, said the vaccine is good and efficacious, revealing that after the first dose, those vaccinated would receive the second shot in the next two months between eight and 12 weeks.
He said the quantity will be enough for the frontline health workers, ealth workers, both of public and private hospitals, members of the state COVID-19 Inter Ministerial Task Force and law enforcement agencies.
Adindu said the second batch of the vaccine would target the vulnerable and those that have underlining ailments and the elderly, saying at the end of the year, 40 percent of the population in Abia State will have been vaccinated.