16% of eligible population in Nigeria now vaccinated – NPHCDA

Nigeria has administered the Covid-19 vaccine on 17,914,944 eligible persons with the first dose, representing 16 per cent of the eligible population targeted for vaccination in the country, according to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib made the disclosure while taking delivery of 859,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 175 Solar Direct drive Refrigerators to aid COVID-19 response in Nigeria, by the Government of Japan, Wednesday, in Abuja.

Nigeria has so far received 67,973,250 doses of COVID-19 vaccines including 2,100,000 doses out of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines procured by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

About 96.9% (65,873,240) doses) of the vaccines received were through the COVAX Facility. While more than 47million doses are in the pipeline from now to the end of the year.

The vaccines include AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson donated by GAVI and different countries including United States, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Spain, Italy, France, Norway, Canada, Germany Ireland, Switzerland, India, and Japan.

Shuaib said that the donation was coming as Nigeria marks the one year anniversary of the first COVID-19 vaccine delivery to the country.

“On behalf of the Federal Government and people of Nigeria, I want to sincerely appreciate the Government and people of Japan for this support to Nigeria at the time it is most needed. The donation of 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines bolsters the global effort to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the global community to ensuring Nigeria receives the vaccines it needs.

“We are particularly happy about the Solar Direct Drive (SDD) Refrigerators because of their advantages in independent and uninterrupted power source for vaccine storage. We have since deployed the SDDs to 24 states of the federation based on vaccine coverage, equity and making sure we reach the last mile”. Dr. Shuaib said.

He said that ‘what is happening in Nigeria today is beyond a fight against COVID-19, that it is actually a battle against the pandemic.’

“This is because of a unique synergy of vaccine hesitancy, disinformation and huge population of eligible persons we have to deal with in Nigeria. Nigeria has continued to push through these odds, and today, we have successfully vaccinated 17,914,944 eligible persons with the first dose and this represents 16% of the eligible population targeted for vaccination in Nigeria,“ he said.

The ED also noted that Nigeria continues to work with stakeholders, partners and communities to ensure an inclusive campaign that stems on the transparency and accountability principles of the Federal Government.

“We have optimized our service delivery, communication, accountability, logistics, electronic management of immunization data (EMID) and supervision to ramp up vaccine uptake in Nigeria. This new strategy, conceptualized as Optimized SCALES was officially flagged off last week here in Abuja, and entails the integration of COVID-19 vaccination with childhood routine immunization.

“It is a great opportunity to receive with ease childhood vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines in any of our COVID-19 mass vaccination sites. We have also rolled out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Nigeria, and all states have already commenced its utilization.

“This is a single dose vaccine, which once taken, you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Our experience of low uptake of the second dose makes Johnson and Johnson vaccine very helpful for a more rapid vaccination progress in Nigeria.”

He said that also, the availability of the AstraZeneca vaccines donated by the Japanese Government helps a long way in making available doses of the vaccines for those who are yet to take their second doses.

On his part, the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Amb. Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, said that the donation was part of the ten million doses to be donated by Japan to Africa, through COVAX.

He said that the vaccines came with Direct Drive (SDD) Refrigerators to keep them safe.

”Increasing vaccine donation is not the goal but the goal was to get as many people vaccinated.

“These vaccines will help save lives, protect livelihoods, and heal economies currently affected by the pandemic. In our interdependent world, Japan and Nigeria are united, beyond borders. We must work together to ensure we are all protected,” said Ambassador Kazuyoshi.

Similarly, the Country Representative of the World Health Organization Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, said that “In addition to providing vaccines, Japan is donating 175 Solar Direct Drive Refrigerators, to ensure stable delivery of vaccines to vaccination sites, with the necessary temperature controls. These efforts are key to ensure that vaccines get to the people who need them.”