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SGF, Health Minister, Other PTF Members Receive COVID-19 Vaccines
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, and other members of the PTF have received the AstraZeneca vaccines.
They took the first jabs of the vaccine on Monday at the briefing of the task force held in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), was the first to take the vaccine.
Thereafter, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, also took his first jab of the vaccine and was followed by other members of the task force.
They include the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama; and the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, as well as the Country Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Walter Mulombo, were also among those who received the vaccine.
Before the officials took turns to receive the vaccine, the PTF chairman briefed reporters on the latest development since the commencement of the vaccination exercise.
According to him, the government has been engaging with the authorities of KLM and the Emirates airlines over pre-departure testing requirements that passengers must meet before travelling from Nigeria.
Mustapha mandated the Ministry of Aviation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to take necessary reciprocal measures, as may be permissible under the laws and other international obligations which they were expected to discharge.
Giving an update on the vaccination exercise, Shuaib stated that the vaccines administered since the flag-off were the same as the ones taken by the President and the Vice President.
He disclosed that the movement of vaccines to various states commenced on Monday and an accountability mechanism had been put in place to ensure equitable distribution of the vaccines in the states.
The NPHCDA boss added that the government would convene town halls in the next few weeks in a bid to counter stories causing hesitancy among the people.
March 8, 2021
Nobody Is Safe Until Everyone Is Vaccinated – Boss Mustapha
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha says nobody is safe from COVID-19 infection until everyone is vaccinated.
The SGF said this on Friday during the formal rollout of COVID-19 vaccines at the National Hospital in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
“For us in Nigeria and indeed nations of the world, the lessons to be drawn from this lack of discrimination by the virus are numerous. They include the fact that we must approach the vaccine phase with the unity of purpose.
“We must understand that nobody is safe until everyone is vaccinated. We must recognise that vaccine hesitancy will impact negatively on our lives and those of our loved ones if allowed to foster.
“We must demonstrate at all times that this is a war for the survival of everyone. We must believe our government on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines brought to Nigeria,” he said.
He also called on everyone to support the plan and systematic roll-out of the vaccine and mobilise citizens across states in the country.
Mustapha who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 added that frontline health workers will be prioritised in receiving jabs from the first batch of vaccine received.
“They have fought hard to save us. They laid down their lives for us. And in the ICUs and treatment centers, they became our last line of defense,” he said while applauding their efforts.
Nigeria joined the league of countries to vaccinate their citizens against coronavirus (COVID-19) as four health workers took the jabs on Friday.
An event organised by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to flag off the exercise held at the National Hospital in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, launched the exercise on behalf of the President.
March 5, 2021
FG Imposes Fresh Travel Restriction on 100 travelers for violating COVID-19 Protocol
The Federal Government has placed fresh travel restrictions on 100 passengers for flouting its directives on COVID-19.
In a series of tweet on Tuesday, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 released the passport details of the defaulters, announcing they have been restricted from travelling for six months.
“Presidential Task Force (PTF) sanctions 100 Passports in Second Batch of those who failed to comply with the mandatory Day 7 post-arrival COVID-19 Test. PENALTY: 6-month travel restriction from Feb 5 to July 30, 2021,” the tweet read.
“The Federal Government is placing travel restrictions on the following passports due to non-compliance with the mandatory Day and post-arrival COVID-19 test,” it added while listing the defaulters.
February 9, 2021
FG Suspends Outbound Emirates Airlines Flights For Three Days
he Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has suspended outbound flights of Emirates Airlines from Nigeria for 72 hours.
This directive was given by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 as contained in a circular issued on February 4, stating that the suspension followed a violation of guidelines given by the task force.
The airline was accused of airlifting passengers from Nigeria who used rapid antigen tests done at laboratories not approved by regulatory bodies.
The circular read, “Based on the foregoing and to enable the Nigerian government to put in place the needed infrastructure and logistics for COVID-19 RDT testing for departing passengers, the PTF has directed that Emirates Airlines should either accept passengers without RDT pending when the infrastructure and logistics are put in place or suspend its flights to and from Nigeria until such a time when the required infrastructure and logistics are fully established and implemented.
“Emirates Airlines has not been in compliance with the two options given by the PTF as records obtained from Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) indicates that Emirates Airlines operated the flights from both Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.”
February 5, 2021
Kogi State Government’s Response to the Reckless Comments Made by Presidential Task Force
Our attention has been drawn to comments made on the 1st February,2021 by one Dr. Mukhtar Mohammed, the National Incident Manager of the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19, (‘PTF’) during the usual National update by the PTF on COVID 19 and related issues . In the said statement which has been given wide reportage in Newspapers such as Daily Trust, Thisday and others, and on social media, the said Mukhtar Mohammed speaking on behalf of the PTF, the PTF was said to have falsely claimed that “Kogi State has not been reporting at all- a state that is not testing at all is an absolute high risk for Nigerians to go there because there is no testing facility. If you fall sick, there is no isolation facility, and they don’t even acknowledge that the disease exists. So for that reason, epidemiologically, we put that state at the top of high risk state”.
It must be categorically stated that the above statement is rather unfortunate, unfair, callous, and unwarranted. The PTF occupies a position of public trust and at all times it is expected to display a high standard of candour, diligence, honesty, fairness and professionalism in carrying out her responsibilities. A Presidential Task Force charged with a duty related to the health and safety of citizens cannot trivialize such an assignment by engaging in fabrication of facts in the discharge of such duties.
Our relationship with the PTF has never been smooth because Kogi State had insisted that it takes samples together with PTF,in order to avoid being handed fictitious results.
NCDC spent over a month in Kogi State and series of tests were carried out under their supervision and all the results were negative. We never heard from them again; Only for the same PTF to come on National television to caste aspersion on us. It is clear that the agency has deviated from its responsibilities of which the Federal Government should consider its immediate disbandment.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Kogi State Government has never asserted that COVID-19 does not exist, rather,what it resisted and vehemently opposed at the early stage of the pandemic was the ascription of fictitious cases of COVID 19 to the State by the NCDC in a desperate bid suggestive of the existence of an agenda to record COVID 19 cases for Kogi State by all means possible.
Let it be known that the Kogi State Government was one of the first few States in Nigeria to acknowledge the presence of COVID 19 in Nigeria and took immediate steps to sensitize her Citizens on the scourge and the need to stay safe.Specifically, on the 23rd of March, 2020 the Kogi State Government directed its Civil Servants on Grade Level 1-13 to stay at home and work from home. Only Lagos State which had 28 of the 40 cases at the time had taken this measure only a day before (22nd March 2020).
Also, on the said 23rd of March 2020, the Kogi State Government constituted and inaugurated a‘Squadron’ made up of 29 members including health professionals and other members. The Squadron was charged with the responsibility of ensuring the prevention and or containment of the Corona Virus and Lassa fever,etc.The Kogi State Government also in those early days procured face masks which it distributed free of charge to her citizens to prevent the scourge. One therefore wonders how the PTF came to the ridiculous conclusion that the State does not acknowledge that the disease exists. It should be noted that the Kogi State Government’s insistence that the panacea for the pandemic was an admixture of science, common sense, medicine and governance; should not by any means be falsely interpreted as a denial of the existence of the virus but a call for Government at all levels to prevent its citizens from being plunged into extreme poverty and hunger and its economy damaged by the implementation of imported strategies at fighting the virus. In this regard, Kogi State deserves commendation rather than condemnation.
On the spurious allegation that the State does not have testing facilities and isolation centres, it is on record that the Kogi State Government has at various times purchased Rapid Test Kits with which it has carried out thousands of tests on her Citizens. The Kogi State Government continues to provide testing services to both symptomatic and asymptomatic persons who have been recommended for tests by health practitioners in Kogi State. With respect to isolation centres, the State Government has standard and fully equipped isolation centres in strategic locations in Kogi State ready for use by patients.Rather than request to see these centres, or verify the facts regarding isolation centres from the Kogi State Government, the PTF prefers to join the bandwagon of fake news purveyors to dish out falsehood about the Kogi State Government and her efforts as it pertains to COVID 19.In its bid to do mischief and perpetuate lies and false impressions, the PTF failed to acknowledge the hundreds of samples which had been submitted to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for test and all of which came back negative. This strange conduct on the part of the PTF is at variance with the good intention of Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) who set up the PTF in the best interest of the Country. The PTF has unfortunately betrayed the lofty intention of Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) and the good people of this Country.
In a most brazen, illegal and highly irresponsible manner, the PTF proceeded to classify or declare Kogi State as a COVID 19 ‘high risk State’ advising Nigerians not to visit the State. The Kogi State Government wishes to State that it does not lie in the mouth of members of the PTF nor is it within the confines of the PTF’s powers to declare a State a high-risk State.That decision is the absolute prerogative of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the Governor of Kogi State by virtue of Sections 2 and 8 of the Quarantine Act, 1926.It also must be noted that such a decision to declare a State or an area a high-risk area is not a political decision rather,it is a decision rooted in science and derived from empirical evidence which is totally lacking in the instant case.
Our data in Kogi State shows no strange death pattern or the number of deaths in 2020 compared with 2019 and 2018.We therefore urge the PTF to desist from their antics of labelling and attributing every death in Nigeria to Covid 19.
Kogi State is the first State to commence State – wide awareness and sensitisation campaign before the first incident of Covid-19 was reported in Nigeria on 27th February, 2020, leveraging on the existing Lassa fever structure on ground. The believe in many quarters then was that the disease would not get to Nigeria, but we chose to be proactive.
The need for rapid test kits, decentralisation of testing to all public facilities, development of risk assessment app, which has also been adopted by the Federal Ministry of Health, development of State independent Covid 19 prevention, control and treatment protocol tailored to the peculiarities and uniqueness of the State, while others were in a rush to import foreign protocol that was not suitable in our settings, and which backfired; Were commendable measures taken by the State which is in line with the Quarantine Act, that require States to take such measures in matters of public health, as their peculiarities dictate. The Kogi State Government developed a molecular laboratory using Genexpert Technology in Kogi State Specialist Hospital Lokoja which was validated by NCDC. This was achieved in collaboration with CDC America. Also, the Government equipped and designated an existing Health facility as a functional Infectious disease Centre named “Confluence Centre for Infectious Diseases”. Similarly, the construction of 2 Ultra-modern Infectious Disease Centres in Kogi and Ajaokuta LGAs is ongoing, yet the PTF never for once commend or acknowledged these efforts. The PTF is rather interested in unilaterally manipulating the entire process to suit their sinister motives.
February 5, 2021
COVID-19: NYSC Officer Died At Isolation Center Not In Camp – DG
The Director-General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General, Shuaibu Ibrahim, has reacted to claims that a top officer who was posted to the permanent orientation camp in Kano State died of COVID-19 in camp.
Ibrahim in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday explained that the officer was tested before he entered the camp and was taken to the isolation center after he tested positive and eventually died in isolation.
“It is not true that the officer died in the camp, in line with the PTF and NYSC guidelines all prospective corps members and camp officials that are invited for the orientation exercise were tested. It is mandatory that all must be tested. It is only those that are negative that are allowed into the camp.
“Those that are positive are taken away by the NCDC and state officials for treatment and that was what happened. The officer concerned just like any other NYSC officials underwent the test and when he was positive he was taken by the NCDC to Kano State isolation center and that was where, unfortunately, he passed on, not in the camp,” the DG explained.
The NYSC boss stressed that there are not NYSC members that are positive inside the camp as they were all tested before entry into the orientation camps.
According to him, NYSC orientation camps across the country are supervised by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“I have always cleared the air that it is only those that are negative that are allowed into the camp. Those that are positive are taken away by NCDC.
“We were the first agency to give NCDC our modalities for camp re-opening and they looked at it critically along with the PTF and the approval was granted.
“Even I was tested along with my officials. None of our officers died in the camp,” the NYSC DG said.
The Federal Government last week threatened to shut down any NYSC orientation camp that violates the COVID-19 protocol.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare gave the warning at the media briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, held in Abuja.
The Minister said the lives and health of the corps members are a priority to the government and the affected camps will be shut and the corp members will be reposted to nearby states to continue the orientation exercise.
– Camp Testing –
No fewer than 34,685 people were recently tested for COVID-19 across all the NYSC camps in the country.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this in November at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja.
He told reporters that those whose samples were collected included corps members and NYSC officials in various camps.
February 4, 2021
UK strain of COVID-19 now in Nigeria – PTF
The Presidential Task Force on COVID19 has disclosed that the B117 strain of COVID-19 has been recorded in Nigeria.
The PTF chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at the briefing of the PTF today January 25.
According to Mustapha, four persons have been diagnosed with the B117 strain in Nigeria. He said of the four persons, three are travellers from Nigeria to other places while the fourth case was discovered in-country.
“Over the last few weeks, the PTF has been closely following the rising number of infections reported daily in Nigeria and in other jurisdictions. Similarly, our scientists have been sequencing the variants of the virus.
There have been reports of cases with the B117 variant strain, first reported in the UK, found in Nigeria. Three of these were in travellers out of Nigeria and one a resident” he said
The strain was first reported in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
January 25, 2021
We have enough storage facilities for Covid-19 vaccine – PTF
The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, on Monday said Nigeria has more than enough facility to store the 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine being expected late January or early February.
Shuaib made the clarification at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja decsribing as untrue insinuations that the expected 100,000 dosage will be wasted due to lack of storage facility.
The NPHCDA boss said, “I want to reiterate that the first set of vaccine expected in the country is the Pfizer Biotech vaccine and the equipment required to store them – the ultra-cold chain equipment – are available at the National Strategic Cold Store of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.”
Shuaib said it was the decision of government, through the PTF and the Ministry of Health not to invest too heavily in ultra-cold chain equipment, hence the decision to go for vaccines that can be stored with the equipment being used to store vaccines for routine polio immunisation.
While encouraging all Nigerians to get vaccinated when vaccines become accessible, Shuaib said, “The chances of spreading the disease are significantly reduced when community members are vaccinated,” he said.
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The Chairman of PTF, Boss Mustapha, however urged Nigerians to do everything possible to avoid a second lockdown in the country.
Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said this can be done by complying with the protocols released by government.
He also announced that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had been authorised to immediately implement the 450 tests per local government plan.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, sfor his part aid the PTF and by extension, the Federal Government, was never favourably disposed to the January 18 date for reopening of schools.
The minister said, “We sat down, looked at the figures and we took the decision that schools should not open.
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“Unfortunately, we have to state this because it is supposed to be a collective decision, but you must understand that the schools we are talking about, the Federal Government has only about 100 out of thousands of schools.
“The schools are under the jurisdiction of states and just as the PTF was unanimous in saying that schools should not open, states were unanimous that schools should open.
“So, we have to compromise and as PTF we shall monitor what is happening on a daily basis. There could be some review again.”
Meanwhile, the PTF has created a special team to implement and monitor safety protocols in the states in the Niger Delta, riverine communities and along the waterways in the country.
The National Coordinator of the PTF, Dr Sani Aliyu, at the media briefing said the Special Task Team on COVID-19 would be led by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Ita Enang.
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Aliyu, who was represented by the National Incident Manager, PTF, Dr Muktar Mohammed, also said the team would be mobilised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
Also, the NCDC called on private laboratories to support the country’s testing on coronavirus.
The NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, lamented that Nigeria unlike other countries, placed more burden on the public laboratories.
He stated, “In Nigeria, 30 percent of the over 1million tests that have been done was by the private sector. The public sector still bears the burden of testing.”
He said a framework had been developed for the private sector participation, and promised to send a team of supporters for activation of any private laboratory in any part of the country.
January 19, 2021
COVID-19: FG Releases N10bn To Support Domestic Vaccine Production
The Ministry of Finance, on Monday, released N10 billion to support domestic vaccines production to tackle COVID-19 pandemic in the Nigeria.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, made the known at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) COVID-19 briefing on Monday in Abuja.
Ehanire said: “The Ministry of Finance has released N10 billion to support domestic vaccine production.
“While we are working to develop our own vaccines, Nigeria is exploring options for licensed production, in collaboration with recognised institutions.
“The country is also exploring the option of local production of the vaccines in the country.”
The health minister appealed to Nigerians to ignore claims by some people that they had COVID-19 vaccines for sale in the country.
According to him, those claims are criminal as procedures for vaccine acquisition and use include appropriate regulations and certification by National Agency for Food and Drug and Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
January 18, 2021
COVID-19: We must do everything possible to avoid a second lockdown – PTF
The Presidential Task Force (PFT) on COVID-19 has warned Nigerians against a second lockdown in Nigeria.
The Chairman of PTF, Boss Mustapha, made the call at a briefing in Abuja.
Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said this can be done by complying with the protocols released by government.
According to him: “Let me remind you that the pandemic is raging and all tiers of Government and citizens must keep their hands-on-deck.
“We are in a difficult situation in which a balance must continue to be struck between lives and livelihood.
“We are considering all options while hoping that broad cooperation will be received.
“We must do everything possible to avoid a second lockdown in Nigeria.”
January 18, 2021