Amidst heightening concerns over the safety or otherwise of the Covid19 vaccine, Governors of the 36 states of the federation, under the aegis of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Thursday, encouraged Nigerians to report any adverse events noticed following COVID-19 vaccination.
The governors’ advice was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the 28th emergency teleconference meeting on Wednesday, where the Forum declared that available records show that the Astra Zeneca vaccine currently being distributed in the country is safe.
The communiqué which was signed by Governor Kayode Fayemi, Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, also stated that the Forum’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group (CTAG) led by Professor Oyewale Tomori after briefing members on the status of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out recommended that Nigeria should continue to vaccinate all eligible persons with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“The Forum’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group (CTAG) led by Professor Oyewale Tomori briefed members on the status of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out across the States including the increasing concerns of the public on the safety of Asta Zeneca vaccines. CTAG recommended that Nigeria should continue to vaccinate all eligible persons with the AstraZeneca vaccine in line with the latest WHO recommendations as available evidence, including findings from research in which some CTAG members are involved showing that the Astra Zeneca vaccine is safe.
“Governors reiterated their belief in the safety of the Astra Zeneca vaccines and commit to continuously encourage uptake of the vaccines by all eligible persons in their States, Governors also encourage the public to report any adverse events noticed following COVID-19 vaccination” he said.
On the issues around Adverse Childhood Experiences, (ACEs) the governors disclosed plans to partner with the British High Commission, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as well as partners at the federal level on the workability of the ACES programme and the role of State governments to maximize its opportunities.
The NGF boss said the Forum received a presentation from the British Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) in Lagos, Nigeria, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, on the Accelerated C-19 Economic Support (ACES) programme which is aimed at supporting Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
“The current focus of the ACES programme in Nigeria is trade facilitation through e-customs and digital jobs booster to activate the digital economy and accelerate the creation of local tech jobs in the country”.
According Kayode, the Forum committed to supporting a federal government-led cross-agency trade facilitation as a critical objective of the e-customs programme coordinated through the National Trade Facilitation Roadmap.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria will be able to achieve the objectives of the e-customs programme (i.e., enhanced user experience, and approximately 10% growth in customs revenue to hit the US$176 billion
revenue target) with a broader cross-agency scope of reform including fulfilling its World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade facilitation agreement.
“Members also committed to encouraging digital infrastructure expansion, accelerator programmes and investment promotion to facilitate job creation in highly potential digital areas such as IT and business processing outsourcing, digital media, e-commerce, start-up innovation and smart manufacturing based on the comparative advantage of each State,” he said.
Read the communique issued at the end of the NGF meeting
By Chidi Ugwu,
Independent Newspaper