Covid-19 Vaccine: A Matter Of Choice For Nigerians, Says Sultan Of Sokoto

The Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has backed the mass vaccine rollout by the Nigerian government, but said it will not force anyone in the country to take the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Council, His Eminence Sa’ad Abubakar, stated this at a meeting on Friday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Sultan spoke at the meeting alongside Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha; the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; and the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib.

According to him, the NSCIA has endorsed the vaccine but it will not decide for anyone whether or not to take the jab.

As controversies over the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines continue, the Nigerian authorities decided to meet with Muslim scholars and Imams led by the Sultan to seek their support for the Vaccination campaign.

While expressing confidence in the potency of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Sultan said European countries are now reversing their temporary suspension of use of the vaccine, and beginning the vaccination of their citizens.

He said: “As Muslims, we know leaders must consult before taking decisions on behalf of those they are leading.  This morning’s programme is in furtherance of that consultation because the time we met last time till yesterday, I think there was still more confusion as regards the vaccine, its efficacy, the various conspiracy theories that we have been hearing or seeing on pages of media.

“Even though some European countries suspended the use of the vaccine, some hours ago, about 30 hours ago, the same countries are going back to the use of those vaccines.

“The vaccine has been rolled out in Nigeria in some states and some states are yet to roll out the vaccine. Some don’t even believe that there is COVID-19. But we are all here to discuss some of those issues.

“We have seen Mr. President publicly take the vaccine, the Vice President and others, and we expect to see more political leaders coming out openly to take the vaccine. All political leaders must take the vaccine first before the common man on the street because they are our leaders and they have to be protected first. They have to be saved first from any pandemic. It is when they are strong, healthy, and alive that they will now take our country to greater heights.

“There are those who do not believe in the vaccine or that COVID-19 even exists, but we believe because we have lost many of our close friends and family members. It is very important for us in advocating letting people know that yes COVID-19 is there and yes there is a possibility of getting out of it.   But it is left for you to act on it,” he said.

He added: “It is left for you to want to take the vaccine because we will not force you. We only advise you and try to appeal to you as we did with the polio vaccine decades ago and today we are polio-free,” the Sultan said.

Similarly, in his remarks, Mustapha who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, announced that the task force was working to begin vaccination of religious and traditional leaders.

He explained that this was aimed at boosting the confidence of the public and commended the Muslim scholars and imams for their support to the government in the management of the virus.

On his part, Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire reiterated that the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe and those who have already been vaccinated, including himself, were yet to report any side effects.

According to him, the involvement of religious leaders is to speed up the administration of the vaccines, considering the impact of the disease on the Nigerian population.

The NPHCDA chief, Dr Faisal Shuaib said the government decided to convene the meeting in order to clear the air on the lingering controversy and commence mass vaccination.

He noted that the European Union Medicines Council had also reversed its initial decision to stop the use of the vaccine and said that it was safe for use.