By GBENGA OMOKHUNU, Abuja

Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello at the weekend stated that he would have died if he had not taken the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Bello tested positive for COVID-19 on December 31, 2021.

He narrated: “Although I was not hospitalised, I was quarantined in my residence for three weeks because subsequently, even after taking the medication, I tested positive twice.

“It was the third time that I got a negative result. If I had not taken the first and second doses, probably what has happened to many of my dear ones would have happened to me”.

Bello spoke after taking his booster shot as he described his unpleasant encounter with the virus.

The Minister said: “I tell you, even the mildness of the disease was something else because it hits you in many directions.

“When I have it, no matter how strong I feel during the day, for about 15, 20 minutes around 6pm, when I’m seated, I just drop asleep and then after 15 minutes, I’m able to turn up again.

“This is aside from the sore throat, the headaches and all the weakness you get especially in your joints. I had to change my course of medicine after the first 10 days”.

Commenting on the other effects of the virus, the Minister said: “For three weeks, I was not productive. I didn’t go out of the house, I never had a chance to do my work and the multiplier effect was tremendous because even now, I’m just trying to cope to clear all those files that I was not able to handle when I was under quarantine”.

While thanking the Federal Government for ensuring the availability of the vaccines for Nigerians, he urged residents to get vaccinated because the vaccines indeed save lives.

His words: “ I tell you, from the figures I get from our Public Health Department, a hundred percent of the deaths that we experienced in the FCT during the last few weeks as a result of COVID-19 were from those who were not vaccinated.

“So, the thing is that for those that are vaccinated, chances are that their cases will be mild, like my own case.

“So, my message to us is let us all get vaccinated. For those who have been vaccinated for the first and second dose, I advise them to go for the booster.

“I will take all the recommended shots because I don’t want to go through what I went through again”. (The Nation)

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