By Abujah Racheal
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, on Saturday said that vaccinated individuals in the country could also get infected with COVID-19 and infect other people.
Giving this charge at the South-South zonal town hall meeting on COVID-19 in Edo state, Dr. Ehanire told elders across the country to endorse COVID-19 vaccination and encourage citizens to get vaccinated.
In a statement released and signed by the ministry of Health’s spokesperson, Segun Adetola, on Saturday in Abuja, Ehanire said “The most reliable tool to protect ourselves and our families, remains first, compliance with the now established public health measures, and secondly, the delivery of vaccines to citizens.
“It pleased the Almighty to reveal the secret to scientists to develop a solution to the disease.
“We know now that high national COVID-19 vaccination coverage is urgent, to prevent the asymptomatic, infected persons from infecting others unknowingly, who are vulnerable or not yet vaccinated.
“Government will be advised to reduce the risk to Nigerians, by requiring vaccination of 70% of the population.
“Workers and the public, who are in close settings like NYSC camps, hospitals, offices and hostels, are particularly exposed and must be a priority for vaccination.
“Especially, in view of the very easily transmissible Delta variant and growing evidence that persons not vaccinated, are at higher risk of death from COVID-19 infection, than the vaccinated.
“Taking the vaccine is also not just for self-protection, but a civic duty to curtail virus spread. We all have a critical role to play in the effort to stop the pandemic,“ he said.