Lagos State government has dismissed allegations that one of its COVID-19 vaccination centres was mismanaging doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
It would be recalled that of the first tranche of 3.92 million doses allocated to Nigeria, Lagos State received 507,742 doses of the vaccine on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, and has commenced its first phase of distribution.
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However, the Federal Government announced earlier this week it was investigating incidents of vaccine mismanagement at some vaccination sites across the country, especially Police Clinic, Falomo in Lagos state.
There have also been allegations that some Lagos centres are selling off doses of the vaccine to people who are ineligible for the current phase.
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The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has however assured everyone that the allegations are unfounded after paying unscheduled visits to Falomo centre and others on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
Today, I was accompanied by the @ followlasg Commissioner for information @gbenga_omo, the Perm Sec of @LagosPHCB Dr. Ibrahim Mustapha as well as the media for an unscheduled visit to some of our vaccination centers for first hand assessment of the ongoing vaccination exercise. pic.twitter.com/d7whKDcwlH
— Prof. Akin Abayomi (@ProfAkinAbayomi) March 25, 2021
The commissioner said he was able to establish that Falomo centre is only vaccinating people who are eligible in strict compliance with the Federal Government’s directives.
He expressed that contrary to the allegations, the centre has actually been struggling with challenges such as insufficient vaccination cards, and periodic network failure slowing down the process.
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Abayomi expressed;
It is however imperative to state that allegations relating to lawless practices at the Falomo Police Hospital is unfounded as vaccination exercise is proceeding in line with regulations.
He urged people eligible for the vaccine to always pre-register online before showing up at the vaccination centres so as to prevent overcrowding and disorderliness.
As at March 24, Lagos had vaccinated over 93,000 people across 88 centres since it kicked off its campaign on March 12.
The first phase will focus on vaccinating healthcare workers, COVID-19 response team (RRT), ports of entry staff, laboratory network, judiciary, military, police, other security agencies, petrol station workers, teachers, press, other frontline workers, and people above the age of 70 years.
