Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, on Monday, in Abakaliki, kicked off campaign on COVID-19 vaccination for resident of the state.

Umahi, while inaugurating the campaign at a brief ceremony at the Ecumenical Centre, encouraged citizens to freely take the vaccines, as they were effective and free of side effects.

He called on staffers of the Ministry of Health and local government chairmen to step up efforts to ensure that the state reached its target in vaccine administration.

“We will work with the local government chairmen so that if it is possible, we will go from house to house to administer the vaccines.

“We are almost the last. We have always come first in financial transparency and others. The ministry of health will have no holiday; they will have to move from house to house.

“May I, with total gratitude to God, inaugurate massive, total and dedicated vaccination of all Ebonyi citizens who are above 18 years,” Umahi said.

Also speaking, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezurike, commended Umahi for his efforts at protecting residents of the state from the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Today, we want to thank God because at the end of every tunnel, there is light; and the invention of COVID-19 vaccine is like the light at the end of the tunnel,” Umezurike said.

The commissioner, who announced that vaccination target for Ebonyi was more than 100,000, however, noted that about 94,000 persons had been administered with the vaccine so far.

Umezurike expressed the hope that the launch of the massive administration of the vaccines would scale up the coverage and attain the target status.

He encouraged those who had yet to be vaccinated to subscribe to the vaccines, as they were effective and devoid of any side effect.

“We are saying that COVID-19 is the disease of the White men; it is not true; we are saying that COVID-19 is for the rich; it is not true. The truth is that COVID-19 is real and the vaccine is also real and effective,” he said.

The commissioner assured of the availability of frontline health workers to ensure seamless administration of the vaccines.