The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has disclosed that so far 2, 897, 201 eligible persons had taken the jab across the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this on Tuesday, in Abuja, at the National Vaccines briefing.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that only 2, 897, 201 million people in Nigeria have received their complete dose of the coronavirus vaccine as at Aug. 30, 2021, a far cry from the federal government’s goal of inoculating 70 percent of its citizens by the end of 2022.
The country, which now has three COVID-19 vaccines that had been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO), has commenced its phase 2 vaccination in 35 states and the FCT, according to Shuaib.
“ For clients who have not had any vaccination, the Moderna Vaccine is available and is being administered currently in all designated health facilities in the country, while those who have had their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine are encouraged to visit their designated health facility to get their second dose,” he said.
The NPHCDA boss disclosed that the the UK government had generously donated an additional 592,880 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, which was received on Aug. 26, 2021, through the COVAX Facility.
He called on governors to continue to provide leadership in the mobilization of citizens to prioritize the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine.
Shuaib stated that Nigeria and the rest of the world needed to end the pandemic, recover from its economic adversities and return to normalcy.
However, getting this would be difficult if we do not face the issues of misinformation and disinformation squarely, he added.
Shuaib stressed that there was often a lot of uncertainty in crisis situations and this leads people to come together and share information in a collective, sense-making process.
He noted that the country’s success in wild polio virus eradication was not without similar challenges.
“The false claims currently disseminated that COVID-19 vaccines are intended for genetic manipulations were similar to the claims that polio vaccines were intended to kill Muslims.
”But today, thanks to our resilience, solidarity and collective will, we have cause to celebrate our hard-won victory over wild polio virus in Nigeria,” He stressed.
The NPHCDA boss also reiterated that vaccines were reliable and proven tools for prevention and control of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.
He stated that the agency would continue to work closely with all states, to optimize logistics for the full take-off of the phase 2 vaccination exercise, in order to ensure maximum utilization of available vaccines in Nigeria.
Leave a Reply