Federal government has flagged off the second phase of COVID-19 vaccination rollout following the successful arrival of 4,000,080 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines and 177,600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines from the Africa-Export-Import (AFREXIM) Bank through the African Union.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman, Presidential Committee on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, during the flag off ceremony on Monday in Abuja also said that government is expecting more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, donated from the UK Government through the COVAX facility.
According to him, the vaccine will be available for persons who took the first dose to use thereby completing their vaccination by taking their second jab and also for persons who are about to start a fresh vaccination process and prefer to take the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The National flag-off is the second phase of the four-phases Strategic COVID-19 vaccine roll out plan of the Nigerian government.
He assured citizens of governments commitment to ensuring that Nigerians have unfettered access to COVID-19 vaccines as the country will continue to invest in and access safe and effective vaccines.
He also said: “It is now the responsibility of every citizen to register and get vaccinated so that we can achieve our desired herd immunity of vaccinating at least 70% of our eligible population.”
“The Presidential Steering Committee will continue to monitor with concern the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in several countries with special focus on those with high incidence rate and widespread prevalence of variants of concern.
“While Government deeply empathizes with families who have lost loved ones to this virus and assures them that we will continue to do everything possible to minimize the surge of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, citizens are strongly advised to minimize all non-essential international travels by land, air, or sea, at this time, specifically to countries that are showing rising number of cases and deaths from COVID-19.
“Consequently, restrictions are placed on travellers from Brazil, India, South Africa and Turkey into Nigeria in line with our travel guidelines”
According to him,” Individuals, transporters, and airlines who flout the guidelines shall be sanctioned.”
“State governments are required to ensure all returning travellers from all countries adhere to the mandatory seven-day self-isolation period and the repeat of COVID-19 PCR test on the seventh day after arrival. violators will also be sanctioned accordingly, “he warned.
Boss Mustapha who commended the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) for its efforts in curtailing the virus urged the Agency to strive harder.
He said “We acknowledge that there is still room for improvement. I commend NPHCDA and our Partners for the various initiatives they have introduced to address vaccine hesitancy which was one of the greatest challenges encountered during the first phase. We invite all hands to be on deck to fight vaccine hesitancy in order to free our country and the rest of the world from this pandemic.”
“I therefore urge all stakeholders to mobilize their community members, aged 18 years and above, especially the elderly to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to stop the transmission of the virus as vaccination is pivotal to our efforts at containing the spread of COVID-19.
Also Speaking, the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Faisal Shuaib, while announcing the donation of another 698,880 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, donated by the UK Government through the COVAX facility, disclosed that: “These doses will be targeted at those that are due for their 2nd dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“In the next couple of weeks, we will be expecting up to 3.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines to complement what we already have and to ensure that we cover not only those who will be taking their 2nd AstraZeneca vaccine but also for those who will want to take their first dose of this vaccine.
“In preparations for commencement of Phase 2 vaccination, we have trained 40,739 state level personnel comprising of our health workers and partners on our phase 2 strategic vaccine roll out plan in order to capacitate them for this roll out. We are fully aware that because Nigeria has started receiving different brands of COVID-19 vaccine, a lot of questions and concerns are being raised on what brand differences would mean to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. We are also aware that mischief makers are still around the corner to take advantage in crafting false information to mislead people on the vaccination.
“I want to assure Nigerians that all brands of COVID-19 vaccine used in Nigeria are certified by NAFDAC as safe and effective especially against the Delta variant” he assured.
