The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib said its putting in place all necessary logistics for storage, distribution, security, and accountability for the range of vaccines they are expecting.
Saying, to this end, the Federal Government of Nigeria has procured 60 units of U701 ultra cold chain equipment, and as we speak, about 37 of them have been deployed to all the 36 States and FCT in preparation to receive all COVID-19 vaccines that would require ultra-cold temperature of below 40 to 85 degrees.
He hinted that, they have also received communication for the delivery of the following vaccine shipments in the coming months.
3,924,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca by end of July or early August 2021 from the COVAX facility 3,930,910 doses of Pfizer-Bio-N Tech COVID-19 vaccine in August from the COVAX facility donated by the United States Government 3,577,860 doses of Pfizer-Bio-N Tech COVID-19 vaccine in Q3 from the COVAX facility
29,850,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson (Jassen) COVID-19 vaccine by the end of September, that will arrive in batches from the African Union Commission. We are making every effort and are confident that, with your continued support, Nigeria will be able to make more significant utilization of the vaccines, that would be supplied to the country.
Shuaib made this known at a press conference on Tuesday on the progress of COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria, saying, the leadership of Eminent Nigerians, the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies are continuing the process of supporting our local partner, Biovaccines Nigeria limited towards establishing local vaccine production.
He, however, appreciated the support of media in educating Nigerians about the misleading theories that anti-vaccination elements have crafted to discourage people from seeking protection against COVID-19.
He added that, “Although it is increasingly evident from independent voices that the conspiracy theories are fake and misleading, we need to remain on alert and continue to provide Nigerians with factual information to enable them see the need to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We must not allow any information vacuum that mischief makers would take advantage of to further mislead innocent people.
“It is with the support of our mainstream media community that Nigeria has successfully vaccinated 3,938,945 eligible persons across 36 States and FCT, representing 98% utilization of the 4,024,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine it received from COVAX facility in March 2021.
“This comprises of 2,534,205 people who have been vaccinated for first dose, and 1,404,205 who have received their second dose of the vaccine.
He continued; “In the course of this exercise, the country recorded 14,550 cases of mild/moderate Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI), with only 148 cases considered to be severe. However, we did not record any case of death associated with COVID-19 vaccination.
“Accordingly, the country has officially ended the first phase of its strategic COVID-19 vaccination plan and is now preparing to commence the second phase in the next few weeks.
“It is important to stress that anyone who is 18 years and above is eligible to take COVID-19 vaccine. This includes pregnant and lactating women. I therefore call on every eligible person to register and ensure that they make themselves available for vaccination on due dates.”
Shuaib further stated that the detection of the Delta Variant of COVID-19 in Nigeria, it is important that Nigerians continue to observe non-pharmaceutical or public health measures such as wearing of facemask, social distancing and hand hygiene in order to curb the transmission of the disease, while we await additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
