Amidst surging infection of the pandemic coronavirus Omicron variant amongst the populace leading to some fatalities, a health expert has lent their voice calling on the populace to turn up for vaccination. The call follows the outcry by some members of the public who laments that despite receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, people still get infected with some even dying from its severity.
In defense, the expert revealed that it was because of the vaccine received; otherwise, the fatalities would have been much higher than what we are seeing.
They also advocated for the booster shots to be taken by those who have already taken the first two doses, this is to enable strengthen their immune system.
According to a survey conducted by vigil360, Nigerians are more apprehensive about the efficacy of the covid-19 vaccine that despite only 3.8% of the eligible population have received the shots, some of them are still going down with the virus.
Examining the data obtained from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) between December Friday 24th and Sunday 26th December, the pandemic claimed about 29 lives of Nigerians.
The report indicates that between Friday and Saturday, 21 persons died of the disease while 8 went down on Saturday with the virus, as the record indicated that Nigeria recorded 1,547 new cases on Sunday alone.
Since the beginning of the index case in the country, Nigeria has recorded 237,561, out of which, 212,550 were treated and discharged while 3,022 could not make it.
Professor, Oyewale Tomori, a renowned virologist while advocating for more vaccines, said immunity doesn’t happen instantly as expected by laymen, therefore calling on the FG for more public education amongst the populace since it cannot be forced on people.
He revealed that though vaccination provides protection against the disease, exposing one to it is not a guarantee that a person cannot be infected again.
He disclosed that those who have taken the vaccine, even when infected for the second time may only come with mild symptoms when compared to the one that has not received any vaccine at all.
In his statement, “the role of the vaccine is to protect you if you have the infection. The vaccine is not going to stop your exposure. The vaccine is internal while the exposure is external.
“After taking the vaccine, if I roam around without a mask, I can get exposed to someone who has it as well as get infected. Those who are not vaccinated and are exposed can die as a result of the infection whereas those who are vaccinated cannot die despite the exposure,” he added.
Another expert from the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), Dr. Muhammad Shakir Balogun, said Nigerians should not be discouraged from being vaccinated simply because some people are dying.
He revealed that the vaccine has shown efficacy vis-à-vis the number of fatalities being recorded.
He said, “For instance, if 100 people that are not vaccinated and get infected with COVID-19 die, less than 10 of them will die if they are vaccinated and get infected. This means that a large number of people that have been vaccinated are protected from dying from COVID-19. This is the major advantage of getting vaccinated.
