*Donation ‘ll help Nigeria achieve 70 per cent vaccination by June
The Federal Government has received at least 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 175 solar direct drive refrigerators donated by the Japanese government to aid COVID-19 response in Nigeria.
Speaking while taking delivery of the donations in Abuja on Wednesday, the Executive Director/CEO of the National Primary Health-Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, noted that the Agency has already deployed the solar direct drive refrigerators to 24 states of the federation, based on vaccine coverage, equity and making sure it reaches the last mile.
Shuaib said, “Today, as we mark the one year anniversary of the first COVID-19 vaccine delivery to Nigeria, we are here to officially receive these donations to Nigeria from Japan.
“I want to sincerely appreciate the Government and people of Japan for this support to Nigeria at the time it is most needed. The donation of 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines will bolsters the global effort to defeat the Coronavirus pandemic and demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the global community to ensuring Nigeria receives the vaccines it needs.
“We are particularly happy about the Solar Direct Drive (SDD) Refrigerators because of their advantages in independent and uninterrupted power source for vaccine storage. We have since deployed the SDDs to 24 states of the federation based on vaccine coverage, equity and making sure we reach the last mile.
“The Japanese ambassador, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, will agree with me that what is happening in Nigeria today is beyond a fight against COVID-19. It is actually a battle against the pandemic. This is because of a unique synergy of vaccine hesitancy, disinformation and huge population of eligible persons we have to deal with in Nigeria. Nigeria has continued to push through these odds, and today, we have successfully vaccinated 17,914,944 eligible persons with the first dose, and this represents 16% of the eligible population targeted for vaccination in Nigeria.”
“We are continuing to work with stakeholders, partners and communities to ensure an inclusive campaign that stems on the transparency and accountability principles of the Federal Government. We have optimized our service delivery, communication, accountability, logistics, electronic management of immunization data (EMID) and supervision to ramp up vaccine uptake in Nigeria’’.
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative, Dr Walter Mulombo, said the donation by the Government of Japan will help Nigeria achieve its target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the eligible population by June this year.
Mulombo said, “Today marks the one year anniversary since the first COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Nigeria. This donation by the Government of Japan will help Nigeria achieve its target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the eligible population by June this year. Let me emphasise that COVID-19 is not yet over. We have seen that every four to five months, a new variant is emerging, and taking advantage of unimmunized populations. We need to stop that cycle. One of the tools we have at our disposal is COVID-19 vaccination is the way to overcome it.
