The Federal Government has says it has procured over 29 million single dose of Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines at the rate of $298.5 million (over N122 billion).
Executive Director/CEO of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuiab, said this Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during the ministerial briefing organised by Presidential Communication Team.
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He said the procurement was to enable the country vaccinate 70 percent of eligible members of the population and combat the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
He said the 176,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines that arrived the country with roll out schedule for Monday was part of 29 million doses the government procured.
The Director General of National Agency For Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, said recent delays associated with the application of modern vaccines donated by the United States Government was as a result of laboratory testing where some insignificant quantities had bar-coding errors which had to be sorted.
Professor Adeyeye, who said the agency had been working round the clock to resolve the slight hitches which had nothing to do with the vaccine quality, also disclosed that in the previous vaccination exercises 12,000 Nigerians reported mild side effects.
On his part, Director General of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said recent outbreak of cholera is now in 22 states of the federation, warning that over 31,000 people have been infected and leaving 816 dead.