Health workers’ lists: Uncertainty surrounds COVID-19 vaccination in Kano, Osun, Delta, eight others

COVID-19 vaccination is still uncertain in 11 states as the Federal Government says it has yet to receive the lists of their frontline health workers.

The states include Kano, Kogi, Osun, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina and Taraba.

This is according to a progress chart sent to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency on Saturday tagged, ‘Update from COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Room.’

But some of the states in their separate reactions faulted the NPHCDA, saying they had submitted the lists. They also blamed the agency for the confusion.

Recall that the Federal Government had on Tuesday received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX facility, an initiative co-led by the Vaccine Alliance, GAVI and the World Health Organisation.

The facility was set up to ensure equitable access to a COVID-19 vaccine by dividing about two billion doses across 92 low-and middle-income countries.

The Federal Government began the vaccination of Nigerians against the deadly disease on Friday when health workers at the National Hospital, Abuja received doses of the vaccine.

On Saturday, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo were vaccinated against the deadly disease

The Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, had on Thursday warned that his agency would not make the vaccine available to states which had not met the criteria set for its distribution.

It was gathered that one of the criteria was the list of health workers, which the agency asked states to submit.

The NPHCDA progress chart, which one of our correspondents obtained on Sunday,  measured the compliance of the 36 states and the FCT using five criteria which include states that have submitted the list of health workers in their employ; states that have health facilities for COVID-19 vaccination sites; states that have health facilities in treatment and isolation centres; states that have submitted the list of focal persons for e-registration and states that have set up technical working groups and operations rooms.

A review of the document showed that the states that met all criteria set by the NPHCDA include: Ekiti, Lagos, Adamawa, Edo, FCT, Kaduna, Kebbi, Ogun, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.

The document stated that 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory had submitted the lists of health workers in their primary, secondary and tertiary facilities.

The states that complied include Ekiti, Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Zamfara.

The report noted that Ekiti, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Ogun, Lagos and Zamfara shared a “comprehensive lists of primary, secondary and tertiary health workers.”

According to the document, 28 states and the FCT have submitted lists of health facilities for COVID-19 vaccination sites while eight states have not.

The states that have yet to comply include Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Delta, Kogi, Plateau and Taraba states.

The report noted that 12 states have yet to set up operation rooms for vaccine distribution. They were identified as: Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Ondo and Taraba.

About nine states have also failed to set up technical working groups.

We have submitted health workers’ list to appropriate quarters – Osun

When contacted, the Osun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Rafiu Isamotu, faulted the agency, saying the state had submitted the list of its health workers to the appropriate quarters.

He said, “I don’t know the source of your information.  All I know is that Osun submitted (list of its health workers for vaccination) to the appropriate quarters.” (The PUNCH)