The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has revealed its plan to vaccinate 109 million Nigerians in 2 years.
This was disclosed by the Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, during the PTF COVID-19 briefing on Monday, in Abuja.
He added that Nigeria was waiting for 57 million vaccines and still had plans to vaccinate people over the age of 18.
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“We remain in anticipation of about 57 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility and the AU,” he said.
“Working with the States, the Federal Government plans to vaccinate all eligible population from 18 years and above, including pregnant women.
“However, the decision to vaccinate any pregnant woman will be made in consultation with her healthcare provider. There will be considerations of whether she is at high risk of contracting Covid-19 or not.
”She is likely to be at high risk for example, if she is a frontline health worker, a support staff or a first responder in the different spheres of the security architecture of our country,” he added.
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He revealed that the organisation planned to vaccinate 109 million Nigerians in 2 years.
“This guidance is based on the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). After excluding those that are under 18 years old, we plan to vaccinate approximately 109 million Nigerians that will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination over the course of 2 years,” he said.
He added that Nigerians eligible for vaccination would have been identified using the World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine allocation framework and prioritization roadmap, as well as the disease burden data from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
“People aged 50 years and above and People aged 18 – 49 years, with significant co-morbidities and additional at-risk groups,” he said.
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In case you missed it
- Nairametrics reported last week that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) had announced that the Federal Government would use the AstraZeneca vaccine, based on its epidemiological assessment done by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
- “Replacement of the initial 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine with 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is in fact a welcome development as it will enable a wider reach of our population and is a better option using our routine cold chain system.”
