Nigerian Medical Association President Prof Innocent Ujah has warned vaccinated Nigerians against abandoning measures to prevent COVID-19 infection.
Speaking at the 11th Annual Symposium of the Health Writers Association Of Nigeria (HEWAN) on Wednesday in Lagos, Prof Ujah insisted that the vaccines did not give people total immunity, rather they minimised symptoms and reduced fatality rate.
Prof Ujah also used the opportunity to raise awareness that more people should take the vaccines, saying that by doing so, many more Nigerians would be protected, both from the vaccines and from herd immunity.
The NMA president regretted that vaccine hesitancy is currently prevalent in the country, as the number of doses available still exceeded the number of people vaccinated.
According to him, refusal to vaccination was caused by mistrust, complacency, fear and misinformation. He called the media to participate in educating the public on the importance of taking up vaccines.
Mr Ujah also called on world leaders to together combat vaccine inequity, saying that the most vulnerable people needed immediate access to the vaccines. He went on to say that Africa must stop being dependent on other countries for vaccines, saying that the continent must produce its very own version of COVID-19 vaccines.
Also speaking at the event was professor of virology Oyewale Tomori, who called for collaboration between the government and private sector to kick off vaccine production in the country. Echoing Prof Ujah’s words, the professor of virology also lamented the fact that people ascribed false attributes to COVID-19 vaccines.
