ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi-
The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed has flagged off the second round of COVID-19 vaccination in the state.
Speaking at the event which took place on Saturday at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Bauchi, lamented the alleged refusal of majority of Christians in the state to take the vaccine.
Governor Mohammed, who appealed to them to receive the Covid-19 vaccines which have no adverse effects, called on the Federal Government to work with the states to deploy resources to procure the vaccines for the total coverage of the citizenry.
In his words: “I want to call on my Christian brothers, I am surprised not pleasantly, that most of them refused to present themselves especially the members because of this campaign of calumny on population and demographics, they said they will not do it”.
“Please, we are not expecting this from them because they are the most enlightened among our population and if they are not presenting themselves, the followers will not really present themselves”.
“I am really excited that the Ulamas including Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, all the Emirs, all the Imams including the Chief Imam, and indeed all the Ustaz, have presented themselves for this. I therefore, want my brothers and Clergymen to take a cue from our Ulamas so that they will show an example and for us to make sure we give a total coverage.
“They cannot go for the pilgrimage if they are joining the covered, they have to know this and they have not allowed themselves apart from the officials of the Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board to be vaccinated and that will leave us out in the next exercise. I must say this so that at the end of the day, the government of Bauchi will not be blamed,” he said.
He added: “I will call on the Christian leadership to come and meet with us so that we can discuss extensively on this. We don’t want any exclusion, although the population is not very high but they are very dear to me because they constitute the bulk of my voters at the last election that brought me to power, so I must make sure that they are well secured and protected.”
Governor Mohammed who said that the vaccine has no side effects nor any risk said: “I assure you that there is no cause for alarm, this is something that we have not recorded any risk, no any adverse effects and by the grace of God, we are not going to expose you to any risk, we work by example and we will make sure that you are safe and secure.”
Earlier speaking, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Rilwan Mohammed, appealed to the governor to prevail on Christians in the state, pointing out that there refusal to be vaccinated is causing a setback in the state.
He said that the state received a total of 105,020 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and has vaccinated no fewer than 47,290 people giving a total vaccination coverage of 97.9 percent.
He said: “Look at Katagum local government that is supposed to be high on terms of vaccination but people refuse to because vaccine hesitancy, they are still thinking the vaccine will cause infertility and other reasons, some were even thinking that they will die but we that took it have not died”.
“We have some problems of some of our Christian brothers because of what is going on on the social media about the adverse effects and they have refused to accept the vaccination. Even today, we invited them but they didn’t come here, so we need to carryout a lot of risk communication one on one. Your Excellency, please help us talk to them.
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NATIONAL ACCORD reports that the Bauchi State governor and his wife, the deputy Governor who is also the State Task Force Chairman on COVID-19, Senator Baba Tela, the SSG, Chief of Staff and top Government officials in the state were all vaccinated.
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