The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 says it is
important for Nigerians to get immunised against COVID-19 when the
vaccines are available.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
PTF National Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, stated this when he
featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
![image](/2020/10/NWLRland.jpg")
He noted that the Federal Government would ensure as many
Nigerians as possible get the vaccines, but that would be done at
the individual’s will.
“Government will not press you down and inject you with the
vaccine, no; it is going to be voluntary but it will be free and it
will be initially for a specific group of people.
“We are going to prioritise healthcare workers; we are going to
prioritise the elderly – those above the age of 60… because these
are the set of people that are most likely to have severe COVID-19
infection,” the PTF coordinator revealed.
He added, “We look forward to having the vaccine in the coming
four weeks and hopefully the first batch will arrive by the end of
January, and those people who don’t want to vaccinate, we will try
as much as we can to convince them.”
‘My Family Will Take The Vaccine’
Aliyu advised Nigerians to come out and get vaccinated when they
are available, especially those who plan to travel out of the
country for one reason or the other.
According to him, those who do not receive the vaccines may be
stuck when countries begin to demand a certificate before granting
travellers entry in the next six months to a year.
For the PTF coordinator, the implication will be that such
person will be unable to travel to Saudi Arabia for hajj, or for
Christian pilgrimage in Israel, or on holiday and business trips to
Dubai, China, and South Africa, among other countries.
“If the vaccine was available today in this country, I will have
it, and my family will have it, and I am very sure that vast
majority of Nigerians will accept the vaccine because the vaccine,
together with the non-pharmaceutical interventions, is the only way
we can get on top of this epidemic,” he said.
Aliyu also faulted the insinuations that COVID-19 was not real,
saying more than two dozens of people lost the battle to the virus
in the last one week.
He advised those spreading such news to desist from it,
stressing that the country reported alarming figures of confirmed
cases in the previous week.
The PTF coordinator said, “All I can say is (that) 33 people
died of COVID-19 in the last one week, are we saying that those
people died for nothing? COVID-19 exists, anybody who says COVID-19
does not exist is probably living in a completely different
world.
“The international community, they are not stupid enough to
introduce something that will harm their people; these vaccines
have been tried.”
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 says it is
important for Nigerians to get immunised against COVID-19 when the
vaccines are available.
PTF National Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, stated this when he
featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
He noted that the Federal Government would ensure as many
Nigerians as possible get the vaccines, but that would be done at
the individual’s will.
“Government will not press you down and inject you with the
vaccine, no; it is going to be voluntary but it will be free and it
will be initially for a specific group of people.
“We are going to prioritise healthcare workers; we are going to
prioritise the elderly – those above the age of 60… because these
are the set of people that are most likely to have severe COVID-19
infection,” the PTF coordinator revealed.
He added, “We look forward to having the vaccine in the coming
four weeks and hopefully the first batch will arrive by the end of
January, and those people who don’t want to vaccinate, we will try
as much as we can to convince them.”
‘My Family Will Take The Vaccine’
Aliyu advised Nigerians to come out and get vaccinated when they
are available, especially those who plan to travel out of the
country for one reason or the other.
According to him, those who do not receive the vaccines may be
stuck when countries begin to demand a certificate before granting
travellers entry in the next six months to a year.
For the PTF coordinator, the implication will be that such
person will be unable to travel to Saudi Arabia for hajj, or for
Christian pilgrimage in Israel, or on holiday and business trips to
Dubai, China, and South Africa, among other countries.
“If the vaccine was available today in this country, I will have
it, and my family will have it, and I am very sure that vast
majority of Nigerians will accept the vaccine because the vaccine,
together with the non-pharmaceutical interventions, is the only way
we can get on top of this epidemic,” he said.
Aliyu also faulted the insinuations that COVID-19 was not real,
saying more than two dozens of people lost the battle to the virus
in the last one week.
He advised those spreading such news to desist from it,
stressing that the country reported alarming figures of confirmed
cases in the previous week.
The PTF coordinator said, “All I can say is (that) 33 people
died of COVID-19 in the last one week, are we saying that those
people died for nothing? COVID-19 exists, anybody who says COVID-19
does not exist is probably living in a completely different
world.
“The international community, they are not stupid enough to
introduce something that will harm their people; these vaccines
have been tried.”