By Joseph Kingston, Calabar
Not fewer than 120,000 Cross Riverians are targeted to receive the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination, the Director General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong, has disclosed.
Speaking during the flag-off of the second phase of the vaccination against the dreaded virus in Calabar at the weekend, Ekpenyong said, “The COVID-19 keeps mutating and has caused a lot of havoc globally so this underscores the need to ensure people are vaccinated.
“We have 105, 000 doses of Modena for people coming for the vaccination for the first time and 11,000 Astrazeneca vaccines for people coming for the second dose. Much is expected of us to get almost 120,000 people vaccinated and we are poised to actualise this.”
She thanked health workers in the state for ensuring that the state emerged as the best state as regards the coronavirus fight, saying Cross River would have to maintain that position during this exercise.
Also speaking, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu commended the governor for providing support as well as the health workers for ensuring the state achieve 117 coverage of the target population during the previous exercise.
She advised residents to come out for vaccination and not take the pandemic as a joke, saying “Cross Riverians should just come out en masse and get vaccinated as we are presently in the 3rd wave of the pandemic in the state.
“The number of confirmed cases through the PCR is rising so people must come out for vaccination immediately. Beyond the vaccination, we must continue to observe all the COVID-19 protocols.”
She said the vaccine will be available across the state as well as all the hard to reach areas of the state, submitting that people who had died of COVID-19 were those who have not taken the vaccine.
In his remarks, Joy Chabo the state immunization officer said the state received the highest number of vaccines in the South south because of its impressive performance during the last phase of the vaccination.
She said although the Delta Variant has not yet been found in the state, people need to get themselves vaccinated to ensure and maintain their immunity.
Dr Pella Umar, who represented the World Health Organisation, commended the zeal of the state in fighting the virus which ensured Cross River recorded a 117 per cent rate during the first round but believed the state could do better if all could heed the appeal to get vaccinated.