Nigeria has utilised 88% of vaccine, says PSC
The Executive Director Of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, on Monday said out of the 4,024,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine received by the Federal Government of Nigeria, 3,441,146 doses have so far been utilized.
Shuaib disclosed this during the national briefing of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 in Abuja.
He said, “A total of 4,024,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine were received by the Federal Government of Nigeria in March 2021; 3.924 million through the COVAX facility and another 100,000 doses from the Government of India. I am glad to inform you that 3,441,146 doses have so far been utilized for the 1st and 2nd dose vaccinations, which is approximately 88 per cent of the total AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine stock in the country.
”As of today, 2,265,805 people have been vaccinated with the first dose, 1,175,341 people have been vaccinated with the second dose. (88%) vaccine doses have been used.
He said based on the data and comparative information from other countries, Nigeria continued to have the highest vaccination rates in Africa with approximately 87,000 people being vaccinated daily, adding that Egypt, South Africa, Ghana and Senegal each had a daily vaccination rate of 72,000, 52,600, 12,100 and 4,790 respectively.”
Shuaib stated that the federal government was expecting additional allocation of 3,924,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines expected to arrive in the country between July and August.
He added that the government was also purchasing 29,850,000 of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines through the African Union Commission and the AfreximBank arrangement due to arrive in September.
On the issue of Emirates flights in and out of Nigeria, he said, “The relevant Ministries continued to review developments and concluded that any decision to fly the Nigerian route by an airline is a business decision. In all circumstances, however, conditions placed on such flights must conform to international civil aviation standards and must not be discriminatory and must respect our sovereignty.”
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire stated that Nigeria has so far escaped the worst of COVID-19 and the dire predictions made about the country.
Speaking also on Cholera Outbreak, the Director General, National Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu said the Government would do all it can to curtail the outbreak while emphasizing the need for Safe Water.
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