Kogi State Gov Yahaya Bello warns COVID-19 vaccine meant to kill

 

Governor of Kogi State, north central Nigeria, Yahaya Bello, has spoken against the use of COVID-19 vaccine, saying it is meant to kill people.

This is even as the Federal Government has said that the first set of vaccines, expected from Pfizer is expected to arrive in the country by the end of January 2021.

The Executive Secretary, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said this on Tuesday, in Abuja, during the facility tour of the three new Ultra Cold Chain (UCC) and other storage facilities in preparation to receive the 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Like several other countries, Nigeria has recorded a second wave of the virus with an average of 1,000 cases daily in the last two weeks.

Vanguard reports that Gov Bello while addressing a crowd in his state, doubted the efficacy of the vaccine, saying there has been no cure for HIV and many other diseases troubling mankind.

“Vaccines are being produced in less than one year of COVID-19. There is no vaccine yet for HIV, malaria, cancer, headache and for several other diseases that are killing us. They want to use the (COVID-19) vaccines to introduce the disease that will kill you and us. God forbid.

READ: Govt explains why Nigeria cannot produce COVID-19 vaccines

“We should draw our minds back to what happened in Kano during the Pfizer polio vaccines that crippled and killed our children. We have learned our lessons.

“If they say they are taking the vaccines in the public, allow them take their vaccines. Don’t say I said you should not take it but if you want to take it, open your eyes before you take the vaccines,” Bello said.

The Kogi governor has not hidden his doubt about the authenticity of the disease that has continued to disrupt people’s way of life and business activities.

Kogi was the one but last two states in Nigeria to record any cases of coronavirus, in part because of the uncooperative attitude of the state government with the infectious diseases agency, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Gov Bello said Kogi would not respond to the second wave of the virus with “mass hysteria”, and asked the federal government to focus more on reviving the economy than procuring COVID-19 vaccines.