Nation
FG Okays AstraZeneca Vaccine 2nd Dose For Eligible Nigerians
The Federal Government will now begin administering the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines on eligible Nigerians who received the first shots.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, made this known during the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) briefing in Abuja.
Shuaib advised health workers, frontline workers aged 18 years and above and persons aged 50 years and above to visit any designated vaccination site to receive the vaccine free of charge.
“I want to remind you that the eligibility period between the first and second doses of the vaccine has been expanded from 12 weeks to between six to 12 weeks, in line with the scientific recommendation provided by the World Health Organisation’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE on immunization).
”The PSC has approved the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination in all states of the federation and the FCT.
“We have redeployed Senior Supervisors to the states and have continued to monitor activities with daily evening review meetings to determine the status of the Covid-19 vaccine implementation in all states and the FCT.
“These meetings, allows us to receive reports from the sub-national level on how the campaigns are proceeding, what challenges they face, and how we can pro-actively anticipate and resolve any impending challenges.
”The meetings also provide an avenue to troubleshoot and resolve any operational hurdles as they emerge, before they become problematic,” he explained.
He said that as was recorded the polio virus eradication fight, the agency is strengthening the Covid-19 vaccination campaign at community level with Town Hall meetings across the country.
”Already we held the North-Central Zonal Town Hall Meeting two weeks ago in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State.
”In weeks ahead, the agency hopes to continue the dialogue in other geo-political zones of the country.
“The town hall meetings afford the communities the opportunity to directly participate in dialogue with the government as we work to protect the people against the pandemic.
“We know that many people are very concerned about the health threats posed by Covid-19, but also about the economic threats.
”The meetings allow for views and concerns to be heard as we work together to move beyond Covid-19 as a nation,” he said.
The NPHCDA boss urged Nigerians to continue to cooperate with vaccinators who were providing an incredibly important service to the nation amid this global crisis.
He added that the government would ensure that only safe and efficacious vaccines were supplied for all phases of the vaccination campaign in the country.
“We would like to state our appreciation to the Nigerian citizens for the cooperation they are providing to our vaccination teams across the country.
”We are continuing to optimise our registration and immunization data system, to maximize the efficiency of this system.
“The need to protect ourselves and put Covid-19 behind us, the way we have done to polio, so that we can return to our normal living, truly is a national effort,” he stated.
The Alliance Française Port Harcourt in conjunction with the Embassy of France Nigeria over the weekend joined the globe to campaign against the 2025 gender- based violence (GBV) with the theme: “16 Days of Activism Against Gender- Based Voice”
The event which took place at the event Hall of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt was in collaboration with the Female in Gaming Network, ( FIGN) and partnership with Nexal a body that seeks to promote online safety and responsible digital behaviour.
The Tide reports that the project which was aimed at promoting digital safety and girls inclusion in Gaming, with the initiative tagged ‘Gameover Gender- Base Violence’was part of the global campaign against gender- based Violence.
The activity which experienced a flavour of festivity was full of fun and excitements as participants took part in tournaments on popular digital games such as Mario kart and EAFC 25, with an intent to creating safer and more inclusive digital spaces.
The Director of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs Marina Lacal said that these activities were designed to encourage inclusion of girls, team work and fair play on online gaming spaces, saying that the gaming world reflects these inequalities, where female players are often under represented.
According to her the main objectives of the initiative was to provide a supportive environment for girls and female in gaming network.
“GameOverGBV” is a project created to reshape this landscape by offering an innovative inclusiveness of girls on online digital Gaming community and digital environments that provide opportunities for creativity, learning and connection, but also fight against Gender-Based Violence Digital Gaming,”she said
She however, explained that the Digital Game, sport competitions, was launched to strengthen social and digital skills through games, workshops, and raise awareness among all young participants about respect, equality and digital citizenship.
The Tide News reports that in Port Harcourt, the competition brought together 100 young participants from three major universities: University of Port Harcourt, ( UNIPORT),Ignatius Ajuru University of Education(IAUE) and Rivers State University (RSU)as well as students from four selected secondary schools, Oginigba comprehensive Secondary.School, Vine lnternational, Virgo predicanda lnternational, and Excellent Montessori Secondary school.
“This is an approach where girls and boys can learn, play and collaborate in a more respectful and safe space for young women, while ensuring a safe, enjoyable and respectful digital environment. It also expose young women to cyberbullying, exclusion, sexist comments and online hate,” Mrs. Lacal said.
Earlier, a game developer Sophia Nei and her. team had engaged participants in an interactive session with the theme: “Can Video Games Be Safe Spaces For Girls?”
However, Mrs Nei and her team educated the girls on the benefits and violence on online digital gaming and urged them ( participants)to learn to say ‘No’ to Online hate, sexist and cyber bullying, while encouraging them(students) to stand up for themselves by reporting such issues to the appropriate authority.
Highlight of the competition was the awarding of prizes to winners by the Director of Alliance Française, Mrs Marina Lacal.
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