The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has debunked rumors circulating about the COVID-19 vaccine claiming that individuals who received the vaccine in 2020 would die due to the vaccine’s effects.

The Director General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, who made the clarification at a media interaction at the headquarters of the agency in Abuja, said that rather than endanger life, the Covid-19 vaccine actually prevents deaths and prolongs lives.

The DG was responding to a reporter’s question as to whether those who took the vaccine were more exposed to death than those who did not take it.

“Let me say it loud and clear that it is not true that those who took the Covid-19 vaccine are going to die. The truth is that none of those who took it would die on account of the vaccine. Vaccines are good and some of them do not last forever as some have said ignorantly,” Dr. Idris said at the media interface.

The DG maintained that NCDC was focused on strengthening the capacity of the foremost health agency to be able to respond promptly to emerging health challenges in the country in order to save lives and provide health security to Nigerians of all ages.

Dr. Idris said: “It is better for us as an agency charged with the mandate of securing health security to be prepared at all times to prevent rather than respond to the outbreak of epidemics in Nigeria. Over the years, NCDC is getting better and stronger in responding to emerging health issues but we are continuing to build the capacity to respond appropriately and promptly as challenges emerge.”

The NCDC boss however said that funding, tradition and culture were major drawbacks to the work of the centre and asked for a change of attitude towards health issues by states, communities and organisations in the country so as to break the yoke.

He pointed out that many communities believe more in their traditions and culture than adjusting to simple life-saving measures in the management of challenging health issues and called for closer cooperation with the agency in order to change the situation.

Recall that despite the exemplary work done by the NCDC to control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic four years ago, some state governors in the country prevented their citizens from keying into the life-saving measures, claiming that Covid-19 was a scam invented by foreign nations to exploit them.

Surprisingly however, such governors did not reject the cash and facilities which the federal government made available to the 36 states and the FCT to mitigate the effect of the pandemic.

Besides, some of the donor funds are now a subject of investigation by anti-graft agencies, as the money meant for many intervention schemes, is said to have been mismanaged by some government officials.