The Federal Government has said that 88 percent of 4 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines delivered to the country in March have been administered so far.
It added that a combined number of 3,441,146 Nigerians have been vaccinated so far with their first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. First dose, 2,265,805, and second dose, 1,174,341.
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, who noted that Nigeria’s vaccination rate is currently the best in Africa, disclosed that no life has been lost following vaccination.
He stated these in Abuja during the briefing by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19.
He said: “Recall that a total of 4,000,024 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine were received by the Federal Government in March this year; 3.924 million through the COVAX facility and another 100,000 doses from the government of India.
“I am glad to inform you that as of today 3,441,146 doses have so far been utilised for the first and second dose vaccinations. This is approximately 88 per cent of the total vaccines that we received.
“Based on these data and comparative information from other countries, Nigeria continues to have the highest vaccination rates in Africa with approximately 87,000 people being vaccinated every day. Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, and Senegal each have a daily vaccination rate of 72,000, 52,600, 12,100, and 4,790 respectively. It is pertinent to note that as of today, there is no vaccine with the expiration date of June 28 that has not been utilised.
“With over 3 million people vaccinated, Nigeria has not recorded any deaths directly linked with adverse events following immunisation.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has urged Nigerians to be on strict preventive alert, as the threat of a third wave of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic looms.
