Dapo Abiodun of Ogun has become the first governor to receive a dose of coronavirus vaccine publicly.

Mr. Abiodun posted on his Twitter page he got the COVID-19 jab in Abeokuta under the Ogun state health commissioner’s supervision, Omotomilola Coker, on Tuesday.

“I just had my dose of the Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The doses were delivered today in Abeokuta. It is first service to self then people, when we take the vaccine because we must silence the virus,” he tweeted using the handle, @dabiodunMFR.

Mr. Abiodun, on Monday, received 50,000 out of 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines the federal government allocated to the state.

After getting the jab, he said, “There is a portal that already exists, and there is a link that allows you to register or pre-register and identify your local government so it can be close to the available centre as possible.”

“We will be prioritising our frontline health workers, our elders, and we go down the line as stipulated by NPHCDA.” 

The governor’s media aide, Kunle Somorin, told Peoples Gazette, “All the primary health centres in all the 236 wards in Ogun state will have access to the vaccine.”

He added, “All frontline workers will be inoculated. Don’t forget that even before the governor, his deputy and cabinet members were vaccinated. The first two people to get were a doctor at the isolation centre and a cleaner from one of our isolation centres.”

According to Mr. Somorin, the state’s residents will be motivated to get the jab, having seen the governor publicly vaccinated.

“It’s a psychological booster for those hesitating to take it. It’s leadership by example. Former Governor Olusegun Osoba said that much when he took his jab yesterday,” Mr. Somorin pointed out.