At long, long last, the Covid-19 vaccine has finally arrived in Nigeria. But the Presidential Task Force set up by the federal government has warned that despite the arrival of the defence laager, it is too early to start dancing on the grave of the pandemic that has claimed more than two million lives and sickened several other millions worldwide within a year. And who is the one beating the drum? Astrazeneca/Oxford, of course!
Astrazeneca/Oxford vaccine landed in the country penultimate Tuesday. Did it arrive a little too late? About a year to its arrival, the pandemic wreaked havoc in many homes across the land. So daring was the virus that it handed down the final summons to many prominent Nigerians.
One of the most powerful figures in the AsoRock Villa, Malam Abba Kyari, was the first major casualty…as if to prove how deadly its sting was, with no respect for anyone in high or low places.
The pandemic gradually stepped on the gas to claim many, many high profile Nigerians: the immediate past Oyo state Governor, Sen. AbiolaAjimobi; Sen. BurujiKashamu; former Director-General of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Prof. HabuGaladima; former Commissioner of Health in Ondo state, Dr. WahabAdegbenro, among others.
There was also a lengthy list of prominent politicians and serving governors who were sickened by the virus but they outsmarted it. Some were even attacked twice but they surprised the virus and survived. The survivalists included the diminutive and controversial Governor of Kaduna state, Nasiru El-Rufa’i, Sen.Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state, his deputy, Baba Tela, Governor KayodeFayemi of Ekiti state, Governor SeyiMakinde of Oyo state, his Ondo state counterpart, ArakunrinRotimiAkeredolu,Governor OkezieIkpeazu of Abia state, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau state.
There were others whose deaths were rightly or wrongly laid on the doorstep of the ailment…. once you are on the other side of 50. That was not to say that those below 50 were feared by the pandemic. It is only that it picks the path of least resistance. Why dissipating energy fighting younger, stronger folks when there are plenty of vulnerable elderlies waiting to be harvested?
To prove its superiority, no fewer than 30 medical doctors among other healthcare givers in Nigeria have so far been herded to their early graves by the virus.
Was the media industry spared? Not at all! The sudden demise of three media icons, Malam Isa Funtua, Malam Wada Maida and Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah, were laid at the doorstep of the pandemic. The Covid-19 also became the whipping boy at the slightest symptoms of common cold like cough, sneezing, phlegm production, etc. At the height of the pandemic hostilities, common pneumonia, chest pains, fever, headaches, runny nose, name them, caused pandemonium in many homes and public places. An innocent cough or sneezing can send everyone around running for cover!
We all looked forward to the coming of the vaccines needed to wave yellow or red card to the virus. In fact, the entire world waited with overtasked patience as all kinds of vaccines were being developed across the Western and Eastern Europe, the United States, etc. The World Health Organisation (WHO) sweated day and night as the race for vaccination gathered speed. Madagascar, the tiny African nation, jumped the gun and came up with a therapy,encouraging other African countries to look in its direction.
WHO flagged down the efforts and warned against any cure that it did not give a nod. Madagascar blew hot and exited the world body, accusing it of bias because the medication did not emanate from one of the mainstream scientifically advanced nations. How could any good thing come from the Dark Continent when the so-called advanced countries were still running from pillar to post in search of solution?
Eventually, three major vaccines surfaced after several dogfights with the virus in some laboratories across the globe. Prominent among them were the Astrazeneca/ Oxford, Johnson and Johnson and Moderna (not to be confused with Modinat, the name of one of my cousins).
The vaccines are here with us now but the doubting Thomases among us are brewing suspicions in the minds of the people. In order to lead by example, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Vice, Prof. YemiOsinbajo, publicly took the jab. The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Boss Mustapha, and his team have also taken turns to be jabbed. Ministers, some National Assembly members, governors and their cabinet members, among high profile Nigerians have been publicly jabbed.
Then came the report of the side effects of the Astrazeneca/Oxford vaccine in some parts of Europe, leading to the discontinuation of the use of the product. The developments have sent panic across the globe. In Nigeria, many have been on the tenterhooks, insinuating that the big men who are being jabbed here and there are just fooling around. They said the President and his Vice were jabbed with anti-malaria medications. Others believe that they are being administered with placebos just to play safe, and to encourage the masses to be vaccinated.
Blood clotting is the alarm being sounded as the life threatening side effect of the vaccine.I can see the Governor of Kogi state, AlhajiYahaya Bello, chuckling in the comfort of the Government House, Lokoja. Yahaya Bello does not believe that Covid-19 exists. He still insists that the whole noise about the existence of the virus in the country is a huge scam. Many have been waiting for the pandemic to overrun the state. That is yet to happen! The relevant health authorities have been sweating to convince Nigerians that the vaccine is safe. So far, no known adverse consequences have been recorded among those who have been jabbed.
What is getting one confused is the warning from the Task Force that despite the emergence of the vaccine in the country, we should not lower our masks,and we should still observe all the Covid-19 protocols. The frequently asked question on the lips of many is that of what purpose is the jabbing if we are still vulnerable to the virus? The vaccination is supposed to prevent infection, to fortify you against attack.
When we were growing up, we used to be vaccinated against all manner of ailments. Most vaccinations were done through incisions or multiple cuts immediately below the shoulders or upper arms and everyone would be safe from attacks.
However, one strange thing about modern medicines is the side effects that they often come with. It is like pharmacy is a cult. Medications will cure one ailment and deposit several life threatening side effects in its place. There is hardly any drug that is free of negativity. For instance, you take some drugs to lower high blood pressure in order to keep the killer ailment at bay. But some of the side effects of the medications will make you wonder whether the drugs were manufactured to create bigger problems for you. Some of the common dangers that anti-hypertensive medications fellowship with include severe headaches, renal failure, loss of libido, fever, confusion, nausea, itching, appetite loss, hypersensitivity, abnormal liver functions, hepatitis, nightmares and, wait for it, congestive heart failure!
Most medications are, therefore, a double-edge sword: to cure and to infect at the same time. Except our leaders are taking placebos, methinks we are torn between two difficult circumstances.
