Wear Face Masks Despite Vaccine, FG Tells Nigerians

Nigerians have been advised to continue wearing their face masks even after receiving the COVID-19 vaccines the Federal Government is trying to procure.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) issued the advice to address misperceptions being expressed by Nigerians on whether or not they would be required to use face masks and observe social distancing after being vaccinated.

In a tweet on Monday, the Nigeria Country Director for Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), Joe Abah, had said he was willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine when offered. He, however, said he was yet to understand if being vaccinated meant that he would be free from observing guidelines against the virus.

“…Some things I am not clear about in my mind though: Would it mean no need for masks and social distancing? If so, won’t everyone stop wearing masks and claim they’ve been vaccinated?

But responding to Abah’s tweet, NPHCDA said, “You are advised to continue to wear face mask andpractice other preventive measures because getting the vaccine does not stop you from getting exposed to someone who has been infected, but the vaccination and development of immunity will stop the infection from progressing to disease – hence you still need to practice the preventive measures.”

Other Nigerians had also expressed mixed reactions to Abah’s tweet.

Twitter user, @Doclawis, noted that if after taking the vaccine, “one may still require to wear a mask and observe safety procedure,” the the medication “is not 100 per cent”.

Another user, @Odutolasodiq86, who noted that he was going to take the vaccine regardless, said: “uphill task would be to debunk the rumour going around that COVID-19 vaccine is not safe. How do I convince the people around me especially my students and their parent to take it?”

One other Twitter user, @issypumping, however, noted that it was important to observe all preventive measures as vaccinated persons may get infected and transmit the virus but “you won’t get sick or hospitalized for the virus”.

Meanwhile, NPHCDA had warned that there was no guarantee for immunity after the vaccine intake as one “may get serious illness and die or have debilitating symptoms that may persist for months.”

It added that, “NAFDAC will continually monitor side effects in people who have received COVID-19 vaccines and identify and evaluate new information that arises on the benefits and safety of COVID-19 vaccines promptly.

“NPHCDA recommends that you get vaccinated even if you have already had COVID-19 because you can be infected more than once. While you may have some short-term antibody protection after recovering from COVID-19, we do not know how long this protection will last.