The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, says people are free to choose whether or not to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to The Punch, Sultan Abubakar spoke Wednesday evening in Abuja as the President-General of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), during the sensitisation programme on COVID–19 vaccine for Muslim Scholars and Imams in Nigeria, facilitated by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA).
The revered religious leader said that people were free to ask questions concerning the vaccine before accepting it.
This is just as the Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib assured participants of the safety of the vaccine.
He said that the Federal Government would not procure vaccines at all rather than procure bad ones.
Shuaib said that misconceptions about polio vaccine delayed the eradication of the disease in Nigeria.
However, he pointed out, the eradication of polio could not have been possible without the support of the Sultan and other religious leaders.
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Reacting, Sultan Abubakar said that questions should be asked on storage capacity whenever the vaccine eventually arrives in Nigeria.
However, he debunked conspiracy theories that the COVID-19 vaccines are met to kill people.
“I believe that we cannot force people to take vaccines. There are myths, people talk of conspiracy theory. The vaccine is meant to kill us, there are so many videos circulating, very negative videos. You can ask questions on that.
“By my own, I am not giving an answer to anything. If the vaccine is meant to kill us, will anybody wait for this COVID-19 vaccine before killing us? We have been taking Coca-Cola, Pepsi for several years.
“Even the Panadol that is imported into the country before Emzor decided to have its Paracetamol, many drugs are imported from outside into Nigeria, now if anybody wants to kill us, there are a million and one ways to kill us. But I am not giving an answer to anything that the COVID-19 vaccine is this or that. The vaccines are free, we are not paying for the vaccine, it is your choice to take the vaccine,” Sultan Abubakar said.