The former Indian Consul General, Upjit Singh Sachdeva, famously known as Jeety, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, on Sunday, April 18, 2021 initiated a mass COVID-19 vaccination at an Indian temple in Coconut Plantation, Mamba Point.
Covering persons of all walks of life and various nationalities, the vaccination turnout was a little over 400 persons, with the process being administered by the Program Manager of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), Ministry of Health, Adolphus C. Clarke. Women and the elderly were given first preference.
Making remarks before the vaccination began, Jeety expressed heartfelt appreciation to the Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah, and the Government of Liberia (GOL) for affording him the opportunity to ensure that over 400 persons benefit from the AstraZeneca Vaccine.
Jeety disclosed that, when he approached Dr. Jallah about the initiative she was gracious and said she would be more than happy to assist him. “I am pleased to report to you the over 400 participants from different nationalities who have converged here to do the vaccination. I believe this will be one of the mass vaccination drives for Liberia,” Jeety noted.
According to him, upon his request to the Health Ministry, Dr. Jallah called the head of the EPI, Clarke, to take charge of the process. He extended thanks and appreciation to Clarke, who had gone there with a medical team to carry out the vaccination.
Also speaking, the EPI Manager, Adolphus Clarke, on behalf of Minister Jallah, rained praises on Jeety who went beyond providing financial assistance and ventured into mobilizing people to take the vaccine. “Remember that disease has no boundary, no race or tribe, and we think that, as health workers, we are under obligation to ensure that everyone within the territorial confines of Liberia are fully protected, irrespective of where you come from,” EPI Clarke noted.
Clarke disclosed that, as at April 14, 2021, 2,735 (two thousand seven hundred thirty-five) persons have been vaccinated. He called on everyone in Liberia to take advantage of the vaccine, as it has proven to be safe and reliable all over the world.
The vaccines were administered, and all the participants were vaccinated. Noticeable among the participants were Dr. Abdul-Haleem, Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Clinic, and Nudrat Hafeez, a professor of English and Literature at the University of Liberia (UL).
Speaking to newsmen after receiving the vaccine, Dr. Haleem said it was important that everyone gets vaccinated for their own immunization from the deadly virus. He thanked Jeety for initiating the vaccination exercise, and also thanked the government for quickly responding to the call.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is a viral vector vaccine for prevention of COVID-19. The efficacy of the vaccine is 76% at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 beginning at 22 days following the first dose, and 81.3% after the second dose.
The vaccine has a good safety profile, with side effects including injection-site pain, headache and nausea, all generally resolving within a few days.
While Liberians are still being skeptical about the vaccine, probably due to low or no publicity, world leaders and health practitioners are leading the queues to take the vaccine, without any report of death caused by it.
Meanwhile, Jeety and Clarke have urged every Liberian and other nationals in Liberia to make use of the doses as they are free of charge, COVID-preventive and efficient.