COVID-19: Nigeria To Get 42 Million Doses Of Vaccine

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib has disclosed that Nigeria hopes to get 42 million COVID-19 vaccines to cover one-fifth of its population through the global COVAX scheme

Faisal Shuaib who disclosed this at the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 held in Abuja on Tuesday said that the initial doses would come as part of Nigeria's plan to inoculate 40 percent of the population in 2021.

He added that with another 30% in 2022. By the end of January, 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to arrive.

According to him, "The COVAX scheme was set up to provide vaccines to poorer countries such as Nigeria, whose 200 million people and poor infrastructure pose a daunting challenge to medical officials rolling out the vaccinations, as the West African country battles a second, larger spike in coronavirus cases.

"Nigeria, where officials recorded low coronavirus numbers through much of 2020, had 1,204 new cases on Monday, its highest ever, as total confirmed cases edge closer to 100,000.

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"Nigeria will first inoculate frontline health workers, first responders, national leaders, people vulnerable to coronavirus and the elderly."

He said that Nigeria must educate its citizens on the importance of the COVID-19 vaccination."We fear what we don't understand," he noted.