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| FILE PHOTO: Vials with a sticker reading, "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo |
The NAFDAC approved Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around noon on Tuesday, via an Emirates airline.
The chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said on Saturday that Nigeria will receive the first phase of about 4 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
In the field to receive their deliveries were high-ranking government officials including the Chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha; Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire; Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; and Director-General of the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) Chikwe Ihekweazu.
Speaking last week, the Health Minister noted noting that once the vaccine arrives in the country, about 70% of the population is expected to be inoculated within two years.
“We have been told to open an account at Afreximbank under the African Union; we did it because we were going to pay for that part of the vaccine. The COVAX vaccine is free, at no cost to us, made from donations, ”said Ehanire.
"We want to immunize around 60 to 70% of our population. If COVAX immunizes 20, then we have about 40 to 50 to immunize against in the next two years. So, we have to pay for it minus the donations we get like MTN donations, for example, all of that reduces the amount we have to buy or something else that in the future is given to us for free.
The minister made the comments on February 24, the same day Ghana became the first country to receive a vaccine from COVAX - a global scheme to obtain and distribute free Covid inoculations to poor countries.
The 600,000 doses sent to Ghana are the Oxford / AstraZeneca formula, made under license by the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India.
Meanwhile, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency announced on Monday that Nigeria can now register for COVID-19 vaccination via its website.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, noted that frontline health workers will be among the first to get the vaccine.
"The first is front-line health workers because they are facing tough fighting," he said. "They will come first, secondly, we will see the parents - those who are over 60, 65 years old and especially those with comorbidities (people who have health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease - they will also be there. group.
"We will also look at the strategic leadership of the country, and then we will look at some of the other people like those at entry points, border post managers, and things like that; This will be the order of priority for now. "
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