National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has said that there is no clarity over when Nigeria will receive the next batch of the COVID-19 vaccines due to global vaccine shortage.
Director-general of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, stated this on Tuesday during a press briefing on the COVID-19 vaccination update.
He said “As most people here know by now, the global community is facing great challenges regarding vaccine supply. Like most nations, this impacts the clarity over Nigerias next shipment.
“While we have information that we may get the next consignment of vaccines by end of July or August, these have not been officially confirmed. When we are able to, we will provide an update regarding timelines and details of the next shipment. At present, we do not have that information available due to the wider context we are in.
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Shuaib, however, noted that Pfizer and BioNTech had on Friday of last week pledged to provide 1 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to low-and-middle income countries by the end of 2021, and another 1 billion doses in 2022.
He also said that Johnson & Johnson had announced it had signed a deal to provide 200 million doses of its vaccine to Covax.
On vaccination update in the country, the DG said, “We have now provided first COVID-19 vaccine doses to a total number of 1,929,237 Nigerians, representing 96 per cent of the targeted population. In addition, we have begun providing second doses, and that number has reached 4,683. Those individuals currently eligible for second doses will have received their first dose 6 to 12 weeks ago.”
He therefore, advised all Nigerians who have received their first dose to check their vaccination cards for the date of their second dose, and ensure that they receive the second dose to gain full protection against COVID-19.
On the Indian variant, Shuaib said the federal government was taking significant precautions to protect Nigerians against the strain (B.1.617.2) by banning flights from India and other high-risk countries like Turkey and Brazil.
