By Uchino Amatey
As part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and in line with the global trend, the staff of the Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (CR-SUBEB) Calabar have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the deadly Covid-19 virus.
The vaccination exercise held recently at SUBEB, Calabar, after a sensitization session by the Cross River State Primary Health Care Development Agency (CRSPHCDA) in collaboration with the State Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Speaking at the event, the Director Immunization and Disease Control, CRSPHCDA, Mrs Joy Chaijo, stated that the sensitization exercise is necessary to change false narratives about the Covid-19 Vaccine circulating in the social media space and arm people with the right information to enable them to make informed decisions.
While urging staff to get vaccinated, Mrs Chaijo stated that the vaccine is safe and over 30,000 persons had received the vaccine in Cross River State with no severe adverse effects recorded.
Explaining some of the side effects people may experience after vaccination, she said, “I received the vaccine, all I had was pain and heaviness in the hand. Vaccines are the same, I am sure we have a lot of parents here, you have taken your children for vaccination, some of them come down with a fever after measles, yellow fever, or even meningitis vaccines. They may have a fever for one or two days, that’s the body response to the vaccine, after that it goes off and you become fine. That is normal, we have not had any issues that call for concern after taking the vaccine.”
Reiterating the importance of vaccination, Mrs Chaijo said “the more the persons vaccinated, the higher the herd immunity of our State and the less the virus will thrive in our environment.”
Speaking on the production process of the vaccine, the Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) Consultant, WHO, Dr Biniam Getachew, said the AstraZeneca vaccine is produced by AstraZeneca Company and Oxford University.
Dr Getachew stated that although the covid-19 virus is novel, the speed in the production of the vaccine can be attributed to the use of preexisting technology. He added that the distribution process of the vaccines to developing countries have also become faster due to the support of WHO, UNICEF and other partners.
Urging recipients of the vaccines to report any adverse reaction for investigation, Dr Getachew said “Some people may develop injection site pain, others headaches and fever, some others may not experience anything just like myself. So it varies from person to person. If you experience any reaction after vaccination, headache or otherwise present yourself to the nearest Primary Health Care facility for possible treatment, documentation and monitoring.”
The World Health organization State Coordinator, Mrs Chisom Emeka said the sensitization and vaccination of SUBEB Staff are necessary as those in the education sector fall under frontline workers and the State is adhering to guidelines laid by National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
Mrs Emeka stated that the vaccination is not for persons below 18 years of age “we cannot give them the vaccine yet because we do not have any data-driven evidence on why we should vaccinate them. They were not part of the clinical trial. The evidence we have concerning children is that it is 800 times lesser for a child to be infected than an adult,” She explained.
She further added that there is no known negative drug interaction with the vaccine for now.
In his response, the Board Secretary CR-SUBEB, Mr Cyril Itam thanked the team and assured of the board’s willingness to partner with the State Primary Health Care Agency to ensure that primary school teachers in the state are vaccinated. This he said will ensure the protection of not only the teachers but also pupils in the various schools.
