Nigeria starts mass COVID vaccination drive, aims to vaccinate 111 million

Nigeria has launched a huge COVID vaccination drive ahead of the arrival of 60 million vaccine doses, as per the reports of PM News Nigeria. Federal Government Secretary Boss Mustapha stated that the government wants to vaccinate half of the target population by the end of January. He also stated that their goal is to vaccinate 111 million people in order to achieve herd immunity. The effort started on Friday and will provide 55 million doses.

Only 2.9% of individuals eligible for vaccination have been vaccinated so far. Vaccine sites will be set up at private health facilities, universities, colleges, stadiums, motor parks, and shopping malls, among other places. According to PM News Nigeria, Mustapha also stated that the government has enough vaccinations in the pipeline to vaccinate nearly half of the target population by the end of January 2022. He further stated that the government is working to secure booster doses.

Nigeria received roughly 5 million AstraZeneca injections from COVAX

Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency stated that Nigeria received roughly 5 million AstraZeneca injections from the COVAX global-sharing facility last month, according to PM News Nigeria. He added that Nigeria had obligations for 11.99 million and 12.2 million doses of COVID vaccines from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech and Moderna Inc, respectively. According to Shuaib, the government has purchased roughly 40 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine shots, which will be delivered in stages.

The African country has reported 2,973 death since the emergence of the pandemic. However, no new deaths were reported on Thursday and Friday. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that 61 additional illnesses had been detected in nine states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), according to the Nigerian newspaper Premium Times. The latest information suggests that Nigeria has 213,464 people infected with the pandemic.

Gombe State had most instances with 16

The NCDC data says that Gombe State had the most instances with 16, followed by Taraba and Zamfara States with 15 and 14 cases, respectively. Three states, which includes Kano, Lagos, and Rivers each reported two cases. A single incidence was recorded in Bauchi, Delta and Katsina state, according to Premium Times. On Thursday, NCDC claimed that Sokoto State had recorded no cases.

(Image: AP)