Bayelsa flagged off the third round of COVID-19 vaccination in Yenagoa on Tuesday and charged residents to make themselves available for immunisation.

Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who did the flag-off, dispelled rumours that the vaccines were unsafe. He argued that if the vaccines were unsafe, the health status of many who took them in the first and second rounds of the exercise would have deteriorated.

Mr Ewhrudjakpo, who chairs the task force on immunisation, said the government’s target was to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of qualified people in the first instance.

“I thank all the stakeholders and our partners – the WHO, UNICEF, Corona Management Systems, the Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) and others for taking the campaign to this level. We thank the COVID-19 partners for making the vaccines available,” the deputy governor said.

He noted that as Bayelsa launched the ‘COVID-19 Scale 3.0 Strategy Vaccination Campaign’, the public should be reminded that negative myths about COVID-19 vaccinations have been proved wrong.

“Initially, it was scary and even mystical, but finally, it has been demystified and has become an ordinary thing we had expected it to be. From the last statement made here by the WHO representative, it is clear that the vaccines are working,” said Mr Ewhrudjakpo. “If they were not working, the rate of mortality would have gone beyond what we have today. We need to put more efforts than we are doing now.”

The health commissioner, Pabara Igwele, said the ‘COVID-19 Scales 3.0 Strategy Vaccination Campaign’ was being conducted nationwide and encouraged Bayelsans to take advantage of the current round to get vaccinated.

In their separate remarks, a representative of the NPHCDA, Dare Jimoh and WHO official Makio Perekeme said the Bayelsa government and its partners should not relent on the vaccination.

(NAN)