The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency Faisal Shuaib, says President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will be among the first set of people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria on live television, an official has said.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha will also receive the vaccine on live telecast in a move the government hopes will help drive awareness.
Shuaib stated this on Thursday at the weekly press briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.
He said: “On Tuesday, I mentioned that we will like to see a situation where Mr President, the Vice President, the SGF, critical leaders come and take the vaccine in full glare of the public to demonstrate that this vaccine is safe.
“So, we have to make provisions for those. But even in developed countries, what we have seen is that apart from the prioritisation of health workers, you have to also identify critical leaders that you don’t want them to be wiped off by the virus.”
Shuaib said experience had shown that vaccines are always better than health immunity.
He said for COVID-19, it would take approximately 10 years for one to be able to achieve health immunity and many people would have died if health immunity is to be relied upon.
The vaccines are expected in the country by the end of January.
