Enugu begins mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign, targets 1.27m persons by January 5

Enugu State has officially flagged off a mass vaccination campaign in its fight against the spread of COVID-19 virus in the state.

The state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, while flagging off the campaign on Thursday, also used the occasion to launch the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund Programme Implementation in Enugu.

Represented by his deputy, Hon. Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, the governor explained that the two important and closely related programmes in the health sector were commenced together “in our frontal attack on the Coronavirus pandemic”.

Ugwuanyi went on to state that the state government through the flagship of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ENS-PHCDA) and Ministry of Health has commenced the mass vaccination campaign for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines for those who have not been vaccinated before.

“Accordingly, it (ENS-PHCDA) has taken concrete steps to expand vaccination sites to at least one primary healthcare centre in every ward. It has also created vaccination sites in all our secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities in addition to 24 new mass vaccination centres, 36 mobile vaccination vans and some selected private healthcare facilities designated as vaccination sites,” said the Governor.

In his address, the Executive Secretary of ENS-PHCDA, Dr. George Ugwu applauded Gov. Ugwuanyi for his unprecedented support to the agency, stating that “the target for this vaccination phase (mass vaccination campaign) is to get at least, 1,265,013 persons in Enugu State vaccinated by January 5th, 2022”.

Dr. Ugwu disclosed that the agency has already trained 1,942 vaccination personnel including vaccinators, e-recorders and validators, adding that “we have also inaugurated special teams of DSS and ICPC to ensure a vaccination card racketeering-free campaign”.

READ ALSO: Enugu gov, deputy receive COVID-19 vaccine

According to him, “We wish to leverage our good performance in the first and second phases of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout to deliver the vaccines to our eligible population. Enugu State currently leads in the Southeast and joins other few states that met all their set targets in COVID-19 vaccination rollout in the country.

“In phase 1, we vaccinated 65,703 persons with the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine. In phase 2, we vaccinated 28,325 and 45,085 persons with Oxford astrazeneca and Moderna vaccines, respectively. In total, we have so far, vaccinated 139,113 persons out of which 50,161 are fully vaccinated with both Oxford Astrazeneca and Moderna vaccines.

“Riding on this track record, I implore the citizens and inhabitants of Enugu State to come out en masse to receive the COVID-19 vaccines which are free, safe and effective. We currently have the Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer Bionthech”.

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