By Festus Fifen.

As the fight to reverse the trend on vaccine apathy across the nation which is caused by misinformation and disinformation about the adverse effects of the vaccine takes a different dimension, the leadership of the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) has thrown its weight behind the Nigeria government to make sure that students across the country takes the vaccine.

The National President National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) Comrade Sunday Dayo Asefo who disclosed this during a joint press conference with the management of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) in Abuja  said Nigerian students and her leadership shall continue to cooperate and partner with every relevant MDAs to ensure heathier students across the country and they are  prepared to partner with NPHCDA to ensure all students were vaccinated especially as the Yuletide approaches.

In his words, “The NANS leadership after wide consultation with all rank and file including stakeholders and experts in the health sector alongside our independent survey and investigation on the vaccination of citizen’s exercise embarked on by National Primary Health Care Development Agency,

“We wish to announce the safety of this vaccine for all Nigerians and Nigerian students in particular, to demonstrate acceptance and endorsement of this vaccine for all in line with this resolution, my humble self as National President alongside Senate President, National Executive Council Members and members of the National Secretariat of NANS shall be taking our first jab today. This is to lead by example as it marks the kick off of vaccination exercise for the entire Nigerian Students.

“To ensure proper dissemination of this information in form of awareness, NANS have set out action plans to ensure proper education and orientation of teeming Nigerian students on this vaccination exercise, its importance and its role in protecting ourselves and our loved ones, most especially in this yuletide period when we have many of our relatives coming from abroad in the spirit of celebration”.

Today we are bold to say with pride that our teeming members (Students) across the six geopolitical zones of the Federation have demonstrated commitment and’ resilience in the collective fight against the spread of the deadly virus COVID 19. This is evident in the minimum record of cases on any campus; only very few, this is a clear indication of Nigerian students’ supportive role and tendency with high level of compliance to the safety guidelines announced by the federal government.

This action plans are commencing with this press briefing. It will be followed by awareness campaign kick-off/rally and Senate meeting at University of Abuja, then Zonal Congresses across the six geopolitical zones of the federation then campus to campus vaccination exercise by NPHCDA in company of NANS monitoring Team.

Speaking Earlier, Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib stated that there was a need to wrap up covid-19 vaccination, so people could return to their normal way of life and business.

He added that over 6million Nigerians have been vaccinated safely and that data had shown over 80% of those who have died from covid-19 in Nigeria were those who were unvaccinated.

Shuaib stated that there were mass vaccination sites deployed all across the country, so people can have easy access to the vaccination, saying there were painless:

“For those concerned about needles, this is an example of a Vaccine that is painless. You may experience some side effects such as mild swelling or some fever.

“These vaccines can protect you against severe forms of covid-19 and also prevent deaths from covid-19 vaccination”