The Federal government has announced the delivery date for the AstraZeneca Vaccine In Nigeria.
According to the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, Nigeria, would receive 3.92 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, March 2.
Shuaib noted that the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine results from President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment.
The NPHCDA Boss reiterated the commitment to receive and deliver the vaccine to eligible Nigerians, adding that the Agency had commenced health workers’ training.
He further revealed that Nigeria has a robust cold chain system that can store all types of COVID-19 vaccine under the required temperature.
AstraZeneca Vaccine
Everyevery.ng gathered that the AstraZeneca vaccine delivery is part of an overall sixteen million doses in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the delivery would make Nigeria the next West African country to benefit from the COVAX Facility after Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
Nigeria plans to vaccinate at least 70% of eligible Nigerians aged 18 years and above in four phases within two years.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, had earlier approved Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this, said the NAFDAC safety committee went to work immediately to evaluate Nigerians’ safety and efficacy.
The NAFDAC boss said AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine’s evaluation shows that it is effective against the UK COVID-19 variant reported in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Adeyeye said the South African variant had not been reported in Nigeria and that the Agency has over 30 herbal medicine undergoing review.