Covid-19: NPHCDA says 3.6m Nigerians now fully vaccinated, explains ‘breakthrough infection’ cases

National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA) has disclosed that a total of 3,600,858 eligible Nigerians have so far received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Oracle Today learnt.

Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, made the disclosure, Tuesday, during the National Vaccination update, in Abuja.

Penultimate week, the agency said 2.9 million persons in the country had received the first dose of the vaccination.

While giving an update on the progress so far made on phase 2 COVID-19 vaccination with Moderna and AstraZeneca, he said the exercise has now fully commenced in all the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

“As at September 6 2021, a total of 3,600,858 eligible Nigerians have so far received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. This is made up of 2,551,738 persons vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine and 1,049,120 persons vaccinated with Moderna vaccine.

“Therefore, 1,576,011 persons have been fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine. We have now restarted the administration of AstraZeneca as the first dose in all designated health facilities. The decision to re-open AstraZeneca for first dose administration is hinged on the fact that we received an additional 1,394,480 doses of vaccines through the COVAX facility,” he said.

He also said that Nigeria received 1,123,200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine through the AVATT platform, coordinated by the African Union Commission, as part of the 39,800,000 doses procured by the federal government of Nigeria.

Dr Shuaib also said that there have been reported cases of breakthrough infections in Nigeria, adding that it is a situation where individuals contracted the COVID-19 virus 14 days after being fully vaccinated.

“If a person gets infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus 14 days after the second shot of the vaccine, it is called a ‘breakthrough infection’.

“The two-week window is the time it takes for the body to produce necessary antibodies following a shot of the vaccine. A ‘breakthrough infection’ refers to the virus being able to penetrate the protective barrier of antibodies. The observation is that in these individuals, the disease is usually milder than those who were unvaccinated. Vaccination prevents one from severe disease, hospitalization and death. If our communities continue to remain unvaccinated, we will keep endangering our communities, especially those who are vulnerable,” Dr. Shuaib said.

He also explained that COVID-19 vaccines show excellent efficacy in clinical trials and effectiveness in real-world data, but some people still become infected with SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination.

He noted that the agency had introduced a special vaccination exercise that would enable members of staff and retirees of public and private sector firms to be vaccinated in their office premises.

According to him, the platform was created in pursuant of the government’s mandate of making vaccination compulsory for all civil servants, as well as in recognition of the fact that some workers may find it difficult to leave their duty post to vaccination sites.

“We have introduced and expanded in-situ corporate vaccination. This entails making special arrangement for eligible staff, dependents and retirees of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs) and the private sector to get vaccinated in their office premises. MDAs, public and private corporate organization that require staff to be vaccinated should visit www.nphcda.gov.ng to fill the request form. These services would be provided at no cost to the Ministries, agency/cooperate bodies,” he said.

He also disclosed that Nigeria had been categorized as an ‘amber’ country by the United Kingdom government on the number of populations immunized and incidence rates of COVID-19 infection.

“Travellers from Amber’s countries, according to him are placed under compulsory isolation by the United Kingdom’s government, whether or not such has been vaccinated,” he noted.

“We have been inundated with questions about why the UK insists Nigerians who have been fully vaccinated are still required to isolate upon arrival in the UK.

“Nigeria alongside countries like France and the Netherlands are listed as ‘amber’ countries by the UK Government based on criteria such as the number of populations immunized and incidence rates of COVID-19 infection. Individuals from countries listed as amber countries are required by the UK Government to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival and be quarantined for a few days,” he said.