President Muhammadu Buhari has received the booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine was administered on him on Tuesday, by his personal physician, Dr Suhayb Rafndadi, about 10:30am, at the State House, Abuja.
Persecondnews recalls the President had taken his first and second jabs of the vaccine on March 6 and May 29, 2021, respectively.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the booster jab, the Executive Director of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed that the President’s taking of the booster shot had demonstrated to Nigerians that it is “safe and efficacious.”
He noted that with over eight million Nigerians vaccinated, the booster shot is another proof that the vaccine is safe, as he urged all Nigerians to make themselves available to get the vaccine.
He said: “The significance of the shot this morning is that the father of the nation is leading by example.
“As usual, he is among the first people that have taken the booster dose of the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine.
“Again, to show, clearly, to all Nigerians that it is safe, it is efficacious, and now that over 8 million Nigerians have been vaccinated, here is another proof that this vaccine is safe and it’s a clarion call to all Nigerians to make themselves available to get the vaccine.
“They are well, they are going about their normal businesses and what we’re seeing from the data is that COVID-19 is now mostly a disease of the unvaccinated.
“Out of every 10 people that have died, the data shows that eight of them are unvaccinated. So, there’s a greater likelihood of dying from COVID-19 if you’re unvaccinated.”
According to the ED NPHCDA, the vaccine comes with mild symptoms that confirm that it is working well, as it triggers the immune system of everybody that takes it.
“The other thing that we are also telling Nigerians is that when you take the vaccine, you may feel some pain at the site of the vaccination, you may feel a little bit feverish, you may feel a little bit of body pains, but these are all the indications that the vaccine is working.
“These are mild symptoms compared to the symptoms you will feel if you were to contract the actual COVID-19. This is part of the technology that portends that this is COVID-19, but in actual fact, it makes your body rise up armies that will now defeat the actual virus.
“So, please stop hesitating, stop having any doubt. It is a question of integrity for us that we do the right thing and we are showing, through leadership from Mr. President, the Governors, the legislators that have come out openly to take these vaccines.
“The Chairman of the Presidential steering committee on COVID-19 has also taken his booster dose. I am aware that Mr. Vice President has also taken the booster dose the ministers of health, everybody has shown leadership by coming forward to do this publicly. So I encourage all Nigerians to do the same.
“These vaccines are exactly what we need to be able to protect our health and then begin to build back our economy,” he said.
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