COVID-19 Vaccine:  2million Nigerians Received  First Jab

The Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib,has said that the agency has been able to provide first COVID-19 vaccine doses to a total number of 1,929,237 Nigerians, representing 96% of the targeted population.

It has also  begun providing second doses,which  has  climbed to  4,683,he said at a press conference,where he also advised all Nigerians who have received their first dose to check their vaccination cards for the date of their second dose, and ensure that they receive the second dose to gain full protection against COVID-19.

 He said: “As we transition to administering second doses, our teams have assessed the communication and mobilization activities that have been undertaken thus far to create awareness for the COVID-19 vaccine and encourage uptake. We will be building on the work we’ve already done in these areas to ensure that Nigerians can easily access accurate information about COVID-19 vaccination.

” Our goal is to do everything possible to educate, combat misinformation, and ensure confidence in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and to ensure all Nigerians have clear information on how, where, and when to get the vaccine. We will do this through continuous engagement and communication with communities across our country.

“Permit me to say that the success we have achieved with the first dose is the collective efforts of all stakeholders, for which we are most grateful.In particular, I want to use this opportunity to sincerely appreciate the father of the nation His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, for his exemplary leadership and for providing all the needed resources to enable us successfully conduct this unprecedented massive vaccination.  We also wish to appreciate the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 response under the leadership of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha for his guidance. Our partners and donors have been with us providing technical support and resources. They are represented here by the WHO and UNICEF Country Representatives Dr Walter Mulombo and Peter Hawkins respectively. We thank you so much”.

Shuaib also noted that, the global community is facing great challenges regarding vaccine supply.

“However, we can update you on some positive developments. Pfizer and BioNTech pledged on Friday of last week to provide 1 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to low-and-middle income countries by the end of 2021, and another 1 billion doses in 2022. Johnson & Johnson also announced it has signed a deal to provide 200 million doses of its vaccine to Covax.

“Separately, the International Monetary Fund is now advocating for a $50 billion fund to be spent on ensuring a faster rollout of COVID-19 vaccines globally and is calling for at least 40% of the global population to be vaccinated by the end of this year, and at least 60% by June 2022. The fund would be used to increase COVAX vaccine coverage, procure additional tests, and expand vaccine production capacity. We strongly endorse the creation of such a fund, and emphasize that all nations must have comparable access to COVID-19 vaccines in order to end this pandemic.

“Additionally, the United States announced it will donate 20 million vaccine doses by the end of June to the COVAX scheme”, he explained.

Providing an update on the rescheduled dates for the PSC’s Zonal Town Hall meetings across the remaining Zones, Shuaib said, North-East is scheduled for 8th of June in Yola, Adamawa State; South-South Zonal Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 15th of June 2021 in Benin, Edo State; The South-West Zonal Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 22nd June 2021 in Lagos, Lagos State; The North-West Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 29th of June 2021 in Kano, Kano State; and the last Town Hall meeting in the South East is scheduled for Owerri, Imo State on 6th of July 2021.