By Mohammed Danlami
The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr Jide ldris, has ruled out claims that people who received the Covid-19 vaccines are liable to die any time soon.
Dr Idris was responding to questions, Tuesday, during an engagement with media executives at the NCDC headquarters in Abuja to boost the public communication of the Centre.
His comments were in respect of whether or not those who received the Covid-19 jabs will die as a result of the unscientific claims of conspiracy in the administration of the vaccines.
According to him, “people vaccinated will not die,” adding that a lot of rumours on social media were not correct.
“Vaccines are safe,“ the NCDC boss said.
He called on the media to join hands with the Centre to better inform Nigerians on vital information needed for the prevention and control of diseases that are either endemic, epidemic or pandemic.
He said the Centre will partner with the media to inform the public about critical health issues, raise awareness about public health threats, and educate Nigerians on preventive measures.
He placed importance on media partnership to pave the way for timely and accurate information that is crucial during outbreaks, adding that media can amplify public health messages to enhance clear and consistent public communication.
He listed the priorities for media partnership to include partnership and collaboration, strategic focus on prevention, domestic resource mobilization, to strengthen subnational capacities and to boost health security workforce.
He said medical doctors are technical in health administration, and may not be skillful in public communication, hence the need for partnership with the media who are professionals in public communication.
He identified anti-microbial diseases as the major killer diseases in Nigeria, and the third biggest killer in the world, and called on all stakeholders not to be caught napping, but to prepare for public health emergency management in the event that they happen.
He identified logistics, more public emergency centres, rapid response teams, warehouses and stockpiles as some of the structures that must be in place for effective public health emergency administration.
