COVID-19: FG says 1.8m Nigerians fully vaccinated

The federal government has said that six months after Nigeria commenced the vaccination of its citizens against the COVID-19 pandemic, over 1.8 million eligible people have been fully vaccinated.

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said this on Monday in Abuja at the national briefing of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC).

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He said as of Sunday 26 September 2021 4,734,769 eligible people in Nigeria have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“This comprises of 3,040,000 with first dose AstraZeneca and 1,694,769 with the first dose of Moderna.

“This represents 4.2% of the 111,776,503 eligible populations who are targeted to receive full doses of the vaccines for Nigeria to reach herd immunity.

“Out of the total vaccinated, 1,892,092 eligible persons have received their second dose of which 1,825,739 have been fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca while 66,353 eligible persons have been fully vaccinated with Moderna,” Shuaib said.

He said a statement by the British High Commission, Abuja, that the vaccines administered in Nigeria are recognized and approved by their regulatory body is a plus for Nigeria.

He said, “This indicates that the ongoing vaccination exercise in Nigeria, is widely recognized.

“Please, let us not let carriers of misinformation and disinformation prevent us from taking the decision to protect ourselves, our family and our loved ones.

“It is important to point out that a lot more work needs to be done for our country to reach its target goal of vaccinating at least 70% of the eligible population of 111,776,503, not only in terms of provision of vaccines but more importantly, in terms of mobilizing our friends, families and communities to get vaccinated.”

Vaccine card racketeering

Speaking on vaccine card racketeering, Shuaib warned unscrupulous elements in the society attempting to fraudulently acquire COVID-19 cards without receiving the vaccine that buying and selling of COVID-19 vaccines and cards is a criminal offence.

He said the federal government had provided the vaccines free of charge to all eligible persons and that officers in charge of every designated health facility would be held accountable for every vaccination card and QR code.

He said, “These must match the quantities of vaccines and devices provided.

“Supervisors and the newly established Joint Task Force (JTF) would be examining the records on health facilities to ensure consistency in inventories.

“States will be supported to strengthen their monitoring mechanism as well and urge all Nigerians to report anyone who tries to buy or sell the vaccination cards to the NPHCDA and other designated offices.”