- Amid uncertainties surrounding the delivery of the next batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19, the Nigerian government has advised all states to halt COVID-19 vaccination once they utilise half of the doses allocated to them.
- The government will ensure those who have already received the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine gets the second jab.
Amid uncertainties surrounding the delivery of the next batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19, the Nigerian government has advised all states to halt COVID-19 vaccination once they utilise half of the doses allocated to them. The government will ensure those who have already received the first shot of the AstraZeneca, vaccine get the second jab. This was revealed by the Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the Pandemic briefing this week.
COVID-19 vaccination started on March 5 in Nigeria for healthcare workers after receiving 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines through COVAX a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by UNICEF. President Muhammadu Buhari, and members of the PTF, strategic leaders, COVID-19 rapid response team, police officers, petrol station workers and others also received the vaccine. Nigeria received about 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from telecom giant, MTN. India supplied another 100,000 doses of Covishield COVID-19 vaccines. These supplies will enable vaccination of about 50,000 Nigerians.
The Nigerian government plans to vaccinate 109 million people against the COVID-19 virus over a period of two years. According to official sources, as of April 6, 2021, 964,387 persons in Nigeria, had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
