June 15, (THEWILL)- Nigeria will get 3.92 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX facility between the end of July and early August.
Speaking at the weekly COVID-19 vaccination briefing on Monday in Abuja, Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said the agency officially closed the vaccination for the first dose on 24th May 2021.
Shuaib hinted that the administration of the second dose of Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the country will end by 25th June 2021.
He said the agency has since been inundated with requests to be vaccinated, adding that in response, NPHCDA has decided to reopen vaccination for the first dose.
He said: “This means anyone 18 years and above who has not been vaccinated should visit the nearest vaccination site for the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“For such persons, their second dose will be due in 12 weeks, and by then we would have received the next consignment of vaccines. I will once again remind those listening that we are advising that all Nigerians who have received their first dose check their vaccination cards for the date of their first dose and ensure that they receive the second dose between 6 – 12 weeks after their first dose to gain full protection against COVID-19. Please note that in some cases the location of your second dose may be different from your first dose, so please be sure to confirm this.?
Shuaib noted that the vaccination teams are making strides in the vaccine rollout, working hand in hand with the local communities all across Nigeria.
He said Nigeria had administered 1,978,808 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 680,345 second doses as of Monday.
He stated that hesitancy towards the second dose is tied to the continued misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccination programme globally and locally and commended the efforts the media community has been making towards the progress of COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Nigeria.
Shuaib revealed that the Mastercard Foundation has pledged to donate $1.3 billion for vaccines in Africa over the next three years in partnership with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stressing that this is one of the largest corporate donations of the pandemic, globally.
According to him, “The goals of this cooperation are to strengthen the Africa CDC’s capacity, support local vaccine manufacturing, procure vaccines for at least 50 million people, and help deliver shots to millions more.”
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