“It is important in the interest of scientific knowledge to be able to attribute any blood clotting problems directly to the administration of the vaccine,” Abayomi stated in the release.

This is even as the Lagos State Government says it has concluded the first half of phase one COVID vaccination campaign, having begun the exercise on March 12.

“The conclusion of the first phase, which took an average of 20 days, followed the Federal Government’s directive to stop vaccination once half of the consignment has been administered so that those who received the first dose will have an opportunity for the second dose,” Abayomi said.

He noted that this will ensure that at least one percent of Lagos residents receive the full complement of doses required to enable the protection the vaccine promises.

The commissioner added that the target to achieve effective herd immunity is vaccination of at least 60 percent ,of the Lagos State population. However, the exercise lapsed on Tuesday 13th April 2021, after which the state government shut down all its vaccination centres.

Abayomi reiterated that Lagos State got 507,000 doses of the 3.92 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine facilitated through support from the COVAX facility to the Federal Government.

The release stated that 257,756 persons, as of the 15th of April 2021, consisting of health workers, frontline workers such as security agents, ports of entry staff, judiciary, petrol station workers, contingency workers and strategic leaders had been vaccinated.

Pensioners, people aged 70 and above, teachers and journalists were also vaccinated during the same period, noting that “Lagos is the only state that has inoculated more than 200,000 residents during this period.”

The remaining doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine have been reserved at the Lagos State Cold Chain Store for the second dose exercise, which will commence on the 28th of May, 2021, following the expiration of the 8-12 weeks interval as required by the manufacturers.

Residents are encouraged to check their vaccination cards for their next appointment dates and, where possible, to try to go to the same health facilities where they got their initial dose for their second dose.

“There is no need for citizens who have received the first dose to pre-register before going to the health facility for the second dose because their already captured details will only be updated with additional information after vaccination,” the commissioner added.

source: Punch