The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), have addressed the speculation that the expected COVID-19 vaccines would contain microchips that would alter human genetic  information.

Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director for the agency gave the assurance at the  Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 national briefing in Abuja on Monday, January 8.

Recall that Nigeria recently joined countries who might be experiencing the second wave of the virus as it recently recorded 1,476 confirmed cases in one day and 23 fatalities.

According to data from the NCDC, a total of 112,004 COVID-19 cases have now been confirmed, but 89,939 patients have been discharged, while 20,616 are currently active cases.

Shuaib pointed that the vaccine would not only save the lives of Nigerians , it would also trigger an immune response that would protect the body against the virus, if encountered. “We encourage all Nigerians to get vaccinated when vaccines become accessible as the benefits of the vaccines far outweighs the potential side effects.

“The chances of spreading the disease is significantly reduced once community members are vaccinated and protected, owing to the fact that the vaccines trigger an immune response that will protect your body against the virus if encountered.

“Please note that taking the vaccine will not only protect you, it will protect your loved ones and community members  against the COVID-19 disease as we work toward developing health immunity.

“There currently seems to be growing vaccines hesitancy and this is largely caused by misinformation leading  to mistrust, doubts, suspicions and conspiracy theories.

“We urge the public to disregard such representation from unverified sources and listen to the medical experts for confirmed information,” he advised.