Nasarawa Exceeds 50% COVID-19 Vaccination Target

Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

The Nasarawa State Government yesterday said it exceeded the 50 per cent COVID-19 vaccination benchmark set by the federal government.

The federal government had set a 50 per cent benchmark for the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be covered during the nationwide mass vaccination campaign against the pandemic.
However, the Programme Manager, Routine Immunisation Coordination Centre of the Nasarawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NSPHDA), Ayuba Ismaila Oko, disclosed this at a one-day media engagement meeting on mass vaccination for COVID-19 in Nasarawa State held in Lafia.

The programme manager added that the state had exceeded the federal government’s 50 per cent benchmark.

He said the agency “has so far vaccinated 51.35 per cent persons since the flag-off of the mass vaccination campaign by the federal government in the state.

“The difference between us (Nasarawa) and other states is 8.31 per cent, which means we are rated first among the states that are doing well in terms of COVID-19 vaccination, because we were able to mobilise very well.”

The programme manager of the routine immunisation coordination centre of NSPHDA continued that the agency was able to vaccinate about 695,006 persons against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state during the mass vaccination campaign.

Giving breakdown about vaccination, Oko explained that the total number of people vaccinated by the NSPHDA is that 549,522 persons received the jab of the first dose, whereas a total number of 145,484 persons received the second dose of the jab.”

He, however, explained that Nasarawa State was rated first among the states that were doing well in terms of COVID-19 vaccination because the stakeholders were able to mobilise people to participate in the exercise very well.

Oko, therefore, sought more support from the stakeholders in the year 2022 in order to enable the agency continue with the prevention of spread of diseases across the state.