Acting Governor of Kaduna state, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, flagged off the Scale 3.0 Covid-19 vaccination campaign last week, an initiative of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. In this interview, the Commissioner of Health, Dr Amina Mohammed Baloni explained what the campaign entails.
Last week, the Acting Governor flagged off the scale 3.0 of Covid-19 vaccination. What is it all about?
If you recall, last year in March, there was a national flag off of the Covid-19 vaccination, which subsequently all states also did. We flagged off with our governor and other Executive Council members and since then, we have been having various campaigns. The scale strategy is designed to reach all citizens that are eligible – that is 18 years and above – with Covid-19 vaccination. This is the 3rd iteration, and therefore it is called 3.0. It is designed to beef up our national coverage to about 70%. As you know, the more people receive the vaccine, the more the whole population is protected. So, the target of scale 3.0 is to take this coverage up to 70%. Kaduna state has recorded about 61% of eligible citizens have received at least one dose of vaccine. And about 37% to 40% have received two doses and are fully vaccinated. About 75,000 have received the booster dose. So, with the Scales 3.0 campaign, we aim to have more accountability, more community engagement, and more monitoring, so that we can reach that target.
There has been a reported spike in Covid cases between June and July. What must have accounted for this increase in the number of infections? We thought that we have achieved herd immunity because many people have been vaccinated and so infections are expected to be low.
As you know, the more people who are not vaccinated get infected, the more the chances of the virus mutating. So, that is the reason for the vaccination drive. We have not reached herd immunity, but we are near there. The survey that was conducted last year, just puts us around 25% of the people that have been exposed to Covid infection. So, vaccination is designed to increase the protection against the virus and reach herd immunity; we are working on that. But before then, people still have to take precautions and you know that we are not immune—the rest of the world is in the grip of spikes and people travel from one place to the other.
An alarm was raised two months ago, by Lagos state, when they saw a spike in cases. And this is what we have noticed; people are getting infected, but they are not getting very ill. This may be because some of them have had at least one dose of vaccination and some are fully vaccinated or they may have had the infection, so if they get infected again, the symptoms are less, they are not very ill and we haven’t seen more people getting severe disease or more deaths. But, we are emphasizing on vaccination and protection to prevent the possibility of the virus mutating to something more deadly, or a strain that escapes the protection from the current vaccines and we may then start having another pandemic. So, that is why we are very particular about people going out and getting vaccinated. These vaccines have been found to be safe and effective, and protect people from getting severe disease and from dying. And I think we should avail ourselves of it since they are free.
It seems like emphasis is being placed more on vaccination instead of prevention. Will it not roll back the gains of the vaccination, if people don’t wash their hands regularly with running water, if they don’t wear face masks, observe social distancing, if they don’t eat balanced diets and exercise?
There has never been a de-emphasis on public health measures. They have been there, and they are being emphasized at every phase of the campaign. The Presidential Technical Team on Covid-19 has still not lifted the ban on wearing masks in public places. What they said was that if you are in a crowded place, in an enclosed space, you should wear your mask. The need for hand washing has been there even before Covid-19, for centuries. It has been known to prevent illnesses that are water borne or food borne diseases. So, these public health measures were never stopped. Vaccination was only used in conjunction with public health measures because the two will make you more protected. So, because you are vaccinated doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t wash your hands regularly, especially when you touch surfaces or people. The FORWARD Campaign is still as relevant, not just for Covid-19 but for other diseases that may be food or air borne. People need to eat balanced diets to make sure they boost their immunity.
The one that is not practiced much is the social distancing. Well, masking? You still see people wearing masks, those that are very conscious about their health. You see them with their masks, when they are in a crowded place, they put them on. And this is what we encourage. If you are in an enclosed space and in a crowd, it is good to wear your mask.
From your explanation, you seem to agree that people have lowered their guard regarding public health measures. What is your ministry doing to sensitize people on the need to observe them?
Well, it is natural. This is the second year that we had the Covid pandemic. We are social beings, and we interact with each other and so we just keep reminding people. Before it was masking everywhere but now we recognize that some people have been vaccinated and some have gotten the disease. The numbers have gone down because of the double tools of public health measures and the vaccination. But it doesn’t mean that because you are vaccinated, you will not be infected. A classical example is President Joe Biden of the United States. He had four doses of vaccines, and he still got it. So, vaccination doesn’t guarantee you not being infected by the virus but that you are protected against severe disease or death. Again, some people’s immune system is so strong that they may not get it, some people will be infected but they will get a milder form of it. And this is what the vaccine promised. The vaccine did not promise a cure. Being vaccinated guarantees that if you get the disease, it will be mild. And that means you will be protecting people that may be at high risk.
So, we haven’t forgotten to remind people. We are still emphasizing and appealing to people to always observe all the public health measures—hand washing, masking in crowded and enclosed places where there isn’t a lot of air circulating. And especially when people have symptoms. If I have a cold and I’m coughing and sneezing, not just for Covid, it is good to restrict the number of people that can get my cold, even if it is not Covid. And masking helps with that. So, we haven’t stopped reminding people that these public health measures are important, and the most important thing is that we don’t get another mutant variant that we all cannot handle. I’m sure nobody wants to go back to lockdown.
As the government is scaling up in the vaccination, is there a step up in testing?
Yes, in the last few weeks, we had support from WHO and almost 50,000 people have been tested. And maybe that may account for some of the spikes. So many people are asymptomatic. We did some testing in the communities and tested the corps members who are coming from other parts of the country. Some of them are positive. But like I said, it’s a milder disease; we are probably dealing with the same strain of the virus or even a weaker strain that has mutated. The way the virus mutates, it can become weaker or stronger. And we think that it may have probably become weaker or the vaccines are protecting people from the disease. So, it is very important for people to take the vaccines. They are there, they are free and they are available. And during this testing drive, we also use the opportunity to vaccinate people in the communities. So, people should go to their health facilities for the vaccines and we have mobile teams going round. And we have teams that are in places of high traffic. We are almost there. The other group that we will appeal to are those that have taken their first dose but have not taken their second dose.
What of those who have taken their first and second doses but haven’t taken the third booster dose?
They are all available for everybody, the more doses you take, the stronger your immunity.
Can one take more than three doses?
We have just received guidance from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency(NPHDA) that four months after your first booster, you are eligible to have another booster. But we encourage this for people that have underlying conditions and also in the elderly because their immune system is not as strong. It is open, people can go and do it but we particularly encourage people that have comorbidities, that have diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, those who have cancer.
Are people still skeptical of the vaccine?
We had an issue with hesitancy in the beginning. We still have pockets of that but by and large, now that more people have had the vaccination and they have not had any ill effects, people now think it is safe. So, more and more people are taking it. From our records, more than 61% of the eligible population in the state have taken at least one dose. So, whatever reservations that they had, they have realized that it is not tenable. People who have taken the vaccine have not experienced any side effects, apart from the normal side effect that they may have, which is a little bit of feverishness and pain on the site. This is common for most vaccines.(Leadership)