Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, his wife as well as Deputy Governor, Kelechi Igwe on Thursday took the AstraZeneca vaccines, after officially receiving the 46,090 doses allocated to the State.

Others who took the vaccine include the wife of the Deputy Governor, Ethel Igwe, among other top government officials.

Umahi who spoke to Journalists shortly after being vaccinated in his office applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for showing true leadership by first taking the vaccine alongside top Federal Government officials.

According to him: “Governors have started following suit and what we are doing is to inculcate confidence in our citizens, considering the level of fake news surrounding this vaccination.”

He further commended the presidential taskforce on COVID-19 led by the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha, for the wonderful work they were doing.

“Let me publicly acknowledge that we have gotten a total of 46,090 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines for Ebonyi State, which means we are expected to vaccinate 46,090 people in Ebonyi State.

“Let me thank Mr President, who is so concerned about the health of our people, and who made all the efforts to get this vaccine. There has been a lot of fake social media news concerning this vaccine but the beauty is that Mr President has proven leadership by taking the first shot with the Vice President and other senior government officials.

“The Good news is that we carry out an average of 50 tests in Ebonyi and in the past one week we have been getting like 49 negative and one positive. We are not going to soft-pedal until everyone is free of this pandemic. That’s when all of us can be said to be free of it.

“But let me say that myself, the Deputy Governor have publicly taken this vaccine. Our wives will also do that. This vaccination is not compulsory but what is compulsory is that you must observe the COVID-19 protocols”