Abia State government on Monday announced that it would commence the vaccination of its residents against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic from March 8, 2021.
The Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu who dropped this hint in Umuahia in an interview with newsmen, disclosed that the exercise will last for 10 days, adding that the aim is vaccinate about 40 percent of Abia residents before the end of 2021.
The Abia information boss stated that those in the frontline of activities such as journalists, health workers and those, who by their day to day operations are exposed to the virus are being targeted, stressing that the vaccine will be administered as it comes.
Okiyi Kalu explained that the state government will not toy with the health of its residents, pointing out that all efforts are being made to ensure that the people remain healthy and safe within this period.
He however tasked Abia residents to continue to abide by the non pharmaceutical protocols of COVID-19 as prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Nigerian Centre for Disease (NCDC) and remarked that for now, they remain the only antidote to contain the disease.
Meanwhile, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on Monday described Senator Smart Adeyemi as a “mad man”. Reacting to a statement credited to the Senator representing Kogi West at the floor of the House last week during the unveiling of a book, Ikpeazu said he does not drink and therefore does not begrudge those who drink.
The book, entitled, “Made in Abia” was written by the Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Senate Minority Leader.
The Abia governor, quoting Chinua Achebe in reference to Adeyemi’s speech calling him (Ikpeazu) a drunkard said, “if a mad man picks the clothes of a sane man taking his bath and runs away, if the man runs after the mad man, nobody will know who is mad and who is not”.