The French government donated 501,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility to Nigeria.
This was revealed by Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, during a press conference on the progress of COVID-19 vaccination in the country.
Shuaib also stated during the conference that the agency was expecting 3,577,860 doses of Pfizer vaccines within the next two weeks.
He stated that the Federal Government has pledged to continue exploring options for vaccine purchase or acquisition, such as through COVAX and the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, in order to vaccinate at least 70% of the eligible population.
According to Shuaib, as of Monday, October 4, 2021, Nigeria had vaccinated 4,963,985 eligible people across the country with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, representing 4.4 percent of the targeted 111,776,503 eligible population.
“About 2,166,186 people have received their second doses of the vaccines. This means that approximately 1.9% of eligible population is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“It is imperative to reiterate the fact that only those who have taken their second dose are fully protected against the deadly COVID-19.”
Shuaib explained that Nigeria was still being assessed by the UK and that Nigerians would continue to be isolated upon arrival in the UK if it was not listed among the 50 countries whose vaccination certificates are recognized by the UK government.
“If you go through the list of 50 closely, no African country made the list. The UK Government is yet to comprehensively review Nigeria’s vaccination certification program.
“From my communication with the UK Government officials, the vaccines administered in Nigeria are approved by the UK Government. They are also involved with the vaccination program in Nigeria through the Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and they are optimistic that by the time Nigeria’s COVID-19 vaccination program certification is assessed, it will be approved.”
