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The Regional Chief Operating Officer, Afreximbank, Anglophone West Africa, Abdoulaye Kone, has officially handed the Johnson and Johnson Covi-19 single shot dose vaccine to the Federal Government.
Representative of the Senate President, the Secretary to Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha, the Minister of Health Osagie Enahire, Executive Secretary of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency Dr Faisal Shuaib, attended the handing over ceremony in Abuja.
The handing over of the vaccine was the highpoint of the national flag-off of of phase 2 covid-19 vaccination, which held at the Federal Medical Centre Abuja.
Meanwhile,the Federal government has hinted that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is a one dose effective vaccine, the 177,600 doses will be focused on those who live in the hard-to-reach areas (riverine areas, desert areas, mountainous areas and security-compromised areas) and the elderly.
The government said this is because they are people who may find it difficult to leave their homes to the health facility for second dose vaccination.
Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, noted that the flag-off is necessitated by the need to create awareness on what we will be doing differently to ensure a more successful vaccination campaign.
He also noted that, they will be receiving today 698,880 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a donation from the UK Government through the COVAX facility.
These doses will be targeted at those that are due for their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
He added:”In the next couple of weeks, we will be expecting up to 3.9million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines to complement what we already have and to ensure that we cover not only those who will be taking their 2nd AstraZeneca vaccine but also for those who will want to take their first dose of this vaccine.
“In preparations for commencement of Phase 2 vaccination, we have trained 40,739 state level personnel comprising of our health workers and partners on our phase 2 strategic vaccine roll out plan in order to capacitate them for this roll out. We are fully aware that because Nigeria has started receiving different brands of COVID-19 vaccine, a lot of questions and concerns are being raised on what brand differences would mean to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. We are also aware that mischief makers are still around the corner to take advantage in crafting false information to mislead people on the vaccination. I want to assure Nigerians that all brands of COVID-19 vaccine used in Nigeria are certified by NAFDAC as safe and effective especially against the Delta variant.
“We believe that overcoming misinformation and disinformation will not only enable us overcome vaccine hesitancy but also facilitate recovery from economic downturn imposed by COVID-19 on the country. Our Crisis Communication Centre is therefore firmed up to deliver rapid data analysis for intensive public information management on COVID-19 vaccination in the country”.
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