After many months of doubting the existence of the disease in the State, the Kogi State Government has finally decided to start administering the COVID-19 vaccine to residents.
Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Saka Haruna, revealed this to newsmen, saying the state will receive doses of the vaccine on Tuesday, ahead of the rollout.
He also stated that the residents will be given “unhindered access to receive the vaccine”.
The Governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, had repeatedly denied the existence of COVID-19 in the state, and had said he would not receive the jab when the vaccine doses arrived Nigeria.
He said, “COVID-19 is just a minute aspect of what we’re treating in Kogi state. I’m not going to subject the people of Kogi state to vaccination, or I will not make them guinea pigs.”
“We have done the microplanning and everything has been completed with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).”
“Anybody that is willing to receive the vaccine (will receive it); nobody is exempted. And nobody will be forced to receive the vaccine.”
However, the commissioner was unable to confirm if the state governor will receive the vaccine or not after he had previously boasted that the coronavirus doesn’t exist.
“The governor does not have to receive the vaccine before others will; I don’t think there is anything special about COVID that we have to bring the governor out to come and receive the vaccine,” he said.
