The government of Canada has donated 2,649,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to Nigeria.
Receiving the vaccines Thursday in Abuja, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said the donation would help Nigeria ramp up her vaccination rollout process.
He said, “Johnson & Johnson offers a single-dose opportunity for full vaccination, which means if you take one dose of the vaccine, you are regarded as a fully vaccinated person. However, we strongly recommend a booster dose after two months of taking the initial dose to strengthen your level of immunity against COVID-19. A second dose of J&J vaccine serves as the booster dose.”
He said 40,700,979 of the country’s eligible population as of August 18 had received the first dose while 28,659,698 had been fully vaccinated adding that 2,666,830 fully vaccinated persons had received their booster doses.
WHO Nigeria representative, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, who was represented by Kofi Boateng, said the COVAX donation was timely as it came when the NPHCDA launched the Scales 3.0 strategy for accelerating integrated COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria.
The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jamie Christoff, said the donation was made to support the vaccination rollout in Nigeria.
