(3 minutes read)
· Nigeria received four million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the United States yesterday (Sunday) to help the west African country to fight against the outbreak of third wave
· The vaccines were routed through the UNICEF
· Earlier, four million doses were delivered in March under the Covax scheme, which is an arrangement to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to low-income countries.
· Under this scheme, more than 80 million doses to 129 territories were already delivered including Africa
Nigeria received four million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the United States yesterday (Sunday) to help the west African country to fight against the outbreak of third wave. The vaccines were routed through the UNICEF. Earlier, four million doses were delivered in March under the Covax scheme, which is an arrangement to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to low-income countries. Under this scheme, more than 80 million doses to 129 territories were already delivered including Africa.
Being the most populous country in Africa,-210 million people- Nigeria used the four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March to start its nationwide inoculation programme. Delta variant, a mutated form of the virus, is creating anxiety to the health experts since it could pose another setback to vaccine distribution. The developed countries may require booster shots for fully-vaccinated people in the event of a third wave. This could slow shipments of urgently needed doses to developing nations.
The virus has killed 2,149 people and infected nearly 174,000 in Nigeria. However, unofficial figures are said to be much higher than what is quoted in the public domain. There are reports that testing is not done in proper way and the positive rates that way do not reflect the real number of people affected. Nigeria is on a full alert to face the third wave. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control detected the Delta variant. Nigeria had imposed restrictions on people coming from South Africa, Brazil, India and Turkey, where delta variants are detected and infections rates have to still have to come down
