The Federal Government has announced the commencement of the second dose of the Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccination in the country.
Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Fai made this announcement during the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) briefing on Monday.
He stated that the agency has been given the nod to begin administering the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines on eligible Nigerians who had received the first shots.
The New Diplomat had reported that Nigeria began its vaccination programme on March 5 with Dr. Ngong Cyprian of the National Hospital, Abuja, receiving the first jab of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
Recall also that Nigeria had received 3.93 million doses of Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccines on March 2.
Giving update, the NPHCDA boss disclosed that 1,690,719 persons have received the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine in Nigeria, which meant that about 84% of the eligible persons targeted for vaccination in the first phase had received the vaccine.
Speaking further, Shuaib also stated that health workers, frontline workers aged 18 years and above and persons aged 50 years and above should visit any designated vaccination site to receive the vaccine free of charge.
He also appreciated all the medical teams across Nigeria who have taken it upon themselves to ensure that everyone is safe from the virus ravaging the world.
The NPHCDA boss also appreciated Nigerians for their unending support, while also urging them to continue to cooperate with vaccinators who are providing an incredibly important service to the nation amid this global crisis.
In his words, “As I mentioned during our last briefing, COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria is ongoing as scheduled in all States. As of today, May 10th 2021, 1,690,719 representing 84% of the eligible persons targeted with the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine have been administered with their first dose in this vaccination phase. These are the most up-to-date figures we have received from our daily call-in data from States.
“We want to take a moment to publicly thank our teams across the States for the excellent work they are doing administering the vaccines. We are making great progress administering safe, effective vaccination to the people of our country. We would also like to state our appreciation to the Nigerian citizens for the cooperation they are providing to our vaccination teams across the country. We are continuing to optimize our registration and immunization data system, to maximize the efficiency of this system.
“The need to protect ourselves and put COVID-19 behind us, the way we have done to polio, so that we can return to our normal living, truly is a national effort. In addition to health workers, frontline workers aged 18 years and above and persons aged 50 years and above are advised to visit any designated vaccination site to receive the vaccine free of charge.
“We also advise that people who have received their first dose should check their vaccination cards for the date of their second dose, and ensure that they receive the second dose to gain full protection against COVID-19.
“I want to remind you that the eligibility period between the first and second doses of the vaccine has been expanded from 12 weeks to between 6 to 12 weeks, in line with the scientific recommendation provided by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE on immunization).
”The PSC has approved the second dose of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccination in all states of the federation and the FCT.
“We have redeployed Senior Supervisors to the states and have continued to monitor activities with daily evening review meetings to determine the status of the COVID-19 vaccine implementation in all states and the FCT.
“These meetings, allows us to receive reports from the sub-national level on how the campaigns are proceeding, what challenges they face, and how we can pro-actively anticipate and resolve any impending challenges.
”The meetings also provide an avenue to troubleshoot and resolve any operational hurdles as they emerge, before they become problematic,” he explained.
