The National Primary Health Care Development Agency says
more than three million eligible Nigerians have been fully vaccinated against
COVID-19.
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said this
at the bi-weekly briefing of the Presidential Steering Committee on Monday in
Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the over three
million vaccinated Nigerians were vaccinated eight months after the country
started the vaccination of its citizens against coronavirus.
Shuaib said 5,891,305 eligible Nigerians had received their
first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which represented 5.3 per cent of the
eligible population.
He added that 3,252,067 Nigerians had received their second
dose and were fully vaccinated, representing only 2.9 per cent of the overall
population of eligible persons.
He explained that the overall population of eligible
Nigerians targeted for COVID-19 vaccination to enable the country reach herd
immunity against the virus was 111,776,503.
The NPHCDA boss said the Federal Government had adequate
doses of vaccines in store to cover a large percentage of the population.
He added that the country had received 3,924,000 doses of
AstraZeneca in batches between October 22nd and 25th from the COVAX facility.
He noted that the country also received a combination of
1,022,400 doses of AZ as donations from the governments of Germany,
Switzerland, and Italy from COVAX last week.
Shuaib said the Federal Government had received commitment
of over 11.99 million and 12.2 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19
vaccines respectively.
“We also have received commitment of 4,953,600 doses of
Moderna as donation from US Government through COVAX. These are a few of the
doses coming in batches in December and January 2022.
“We would also like to remind us that the Federal Government
procured 39,800,000 doses of J&J COVID-19 vaccine through the AVATT and
these have been coming in batches,” he said.
He appealed to persons 18 years and above and unvaccinated
to simply walk into the nearest vaccination site to take their COVID-19
vaccine.
“It is free, safe, effective and protects you, your family
and your community. And if you have taken your first dose, check your
vaccination card for your due date and ensure you take the second dose for full
protection,” he said.
He stated that the Agency would initiate the COVID-19 Mass
Vaccination Campaign to reach more Nigerians.
He said the idea of mass vaccination campaign was to quickly
increase the number of fully vaccinated eligible population.
This, he hinted, would move the country towards achieving
herd immunity and creating an enabling environment for economic recovery and a return
to social normalcy in the country.
“The mass vaccination campaigns will require mass
mobilisation of Nigerians for increased vaccine uptake.
“This cannot be done successfully without the support of all
critical stakeholders including governors, commissioners, the LGA Chairmen,
Traditional and Religious Leaders, the Civil Society Organisations, the State
Ministries of Health, the State Primary Healthcare Boards, all health
professionals and our professional media community,” he said.
Shuaib said efforts were ongoing to engage with stakeholders
to promote awareness and vaccine confidence.
He said the government aimed to vaccinate at least 50 per
cent of the population by the end of January 2022.
“We will be conducting the National flag off of this mass
vaccination campaign this Friday Nov. 19 by 10 a.m.,” he said.
The NPHCDA boss said any Nigerian found obtaining the
COVID-19 vaccination card illegally (buying or selling) would be made to face
the law.
He said the Joint Task Force on COVID-19, which included
security agents from the ICPC, DSS and other relevant security agencies
remained on alert at every corner of the country and were regularly making
impromptu checks.
He noted that it would also be extremely difficult to use
fraudulently obtained cards outside the country.
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