Nigerian Bishop Dismisses Skepticism Toward COVID-19 Vaccines as “propaganda”

“Are the vaccines safe or are they a means to control the population growth of Africans?” Archbishop Kaigama posed during the February 7 Eucharistic celebration.

The 62-year-old Nigerian Archbishop recommended that medical experts in the country “ensure that the vaccines have been subjected to appropriate tests for genuineness and are properly stored, to allay the fear of contamination.”

In January, Bishops in Nigeria’s Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province called on medical experts in the country to independently test the COVID-19 vaccines so as to allay fears among the public about their safety. 

“We strongly recommend that the authorities not allow anyone to use the COVID-19 pandemic for selfish gains or interests. We also plead that our medical experts be allowed to subject to appropriate test, the COVID-19 vaccines coming into Nigeria in order to secure the confidence of Nigerians so that they may willingly submit to the medication,” said the Local Ordinaries of Ibadan Archdiocese and Ilorin, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo Dioceses.

Some 3.92 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Africa’s most populous nation on March 2.

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Health workers and first responders in the military and other security agencies have been given priority in the first phase of the vaccination campaign that kicked off March 5.

After the first round of the inoculation, adults above 50 years of age, starting with those aged 60 years and older are expected to be vaccinated.

Those aged between 18 and 49 years of age with underlying health conditions will be targeted in the third phase of the vaccination of campaign. 

Nigeria has recorded 162,762 cases of the disease including 2,056 deaths and 151,532 recoveries. 

In the March 30 report, Bishop Onaga expresses joy for the “opportunity to take this vaccine” and goes on to “advise everyone who loves his life and is a child of God to do the same.”

Speaking after Bishop Onaga had been vaccinated, the Executive Secretary of Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. George Ugwu, assured the people of the vaccine’s safety saying they have not “heard any severe adverse effect” from the “nearly ten thousand (10,000) residents of Enugu State who have been vaccinated.”

He expressed the hope that “by vaccinating His Lordship, other people will see the need to get vaccinated and prevent this pandemic from spreading, as well as protect lives.”

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.