The Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA) has denied reports of alleged demand for money from clients for the vaccine.
An NGO, the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), at a press conference in Bauchi state, alleged that vaccine administrators in Kogi were demanded money from clients before vaccinating them.
A statement Agency director Dr. Abubakar Yakubu in Lokoja said the report was misleading and far from the reality of COVID-19 vaccination in the state.
He stressed that the report was most likely not true, as the NGO was unable to back up its alleged findings with real facts and without using the proper channels.
The KSPHCDA chief added that such discovery should have been directed to the appropriate agency in the state, rather than to journalists in Bauchi.
Yakubu added that the agency has been participating in high-level mobilization and social awareness campaigns in the state’s communities, to improve the vaccination exercise.
“How is it possible that something that we are practically persuading people to take now is the same thing that we demanded for money before administering it?” Yakubu asked.
He stressed that the agency was closely monitoring the administrators’ activities and how they persuaded people across the state to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
He argued that the claim was virtually impossible to happen in Kogi, where the Agency and the State Ministry of Health were still conducting high-level promotion and community awareness together with relevant NGOs for the adoption of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The state government completely rejects the report and there is an immediate and unreserved apology from the publisher of the fake news, as well as its generator, CITAD.
“If the apology is not presented, the government will be forced to take punitive measures against the NGO and its collaborators,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yakubu explained that the agency had created a team of investigators, who were thoroughly analyzing the report, to expose the perpetrators as well as the motive behind their action.
Speaking, Mr Folayan Idowu, State Coordinator of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), described the post as baseless.
Idowu, who is also a member of the Joint State Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination, said the task force had been embarking on a weekly patrol to monitor the administration of COVID-19 vaccines across the country. condition. He added that there was no record of such an incident.
