By Zayamu Hassan
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has officially commenced the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination with the assurance that no segment of Nigerians will be left out.
The Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, stated this at the flag-off of the phase 2 of the COVID-19 vaccination exercise in Abuja, Monday.
“NPHCDA in collaboration with our partners have mapped out the best strategies in targeting different segments of our populations because of the differences in vulnerability, age, and geographical constraints,” he stressed.
He, however, revealed that: “In preparations for commencement of Phase 2 vaccination, we have trained 40,739 state level personnel comprising of our health workers and partners on our phase 2 strategic vaccine roll out plan in order to capacitate them for this roll out.
“We are fully aware that because Nigeria has started receiving different brands of COVID-19 vaccine, a lot of questions and concerns are being raised on what brand differences would mean to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines.
“We are also aware that mischief makers are still around the corner to take advantage in crafting false information to mislead people on the vaccination.
“I want to assure Nigerians that all brands of COVID-19 vaccine used in Nigeria are certified by NAFDAC as safe and effective especially against the Delta variant.”
He further announced that Nigeria will, later in the day, receive 698,880 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
This, according to Shuaib, is a donation from the UK Government through the COVAX facility, explaining that these doses will be targeted at those that are due for their 2nd dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“In the next couple of weeks, we will be expecting up to 3.9million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines to complement what we already have and to ensure that we cover not only those who will be taking their 2nd AstraZeneca vaccine but also for those who will want to take their first dose of this vaccine,” he further disclosed.
On his part, the Country Representative of World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Walter Mulombo, applauded Nigeria for successfully vaccinating over 2.5 million and 1.4 million persons with first dose and second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine respectively in the Phase1 rollout of COVID-19 vaccination.
He stressed that the country has utilized 98.9 per cent, 3,980,600 doses, of first tranche of COVID-19 vaccines.
He noted that: “Today we are gathered to launch the Phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccination, with an initial 4,000,080 doses of Moderna and 176,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines, which will be administered to people aged 18 years and above in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.”
