Nigeria set to receive 4 million doses of Covid vaccines on Tuesday
More than a year since Nigeria had its first case of the novel coronavirus (covid-19) and a lot has happened since then. On Saturday The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, announced that Nigeria will receive its first set of doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.
Boss Mustapha who is also the chairman of the presidential task force on covid-19 made this known via a video sent to Premium Times. This is a big step for Nigeria as the country will be receiving four million of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.
“I can assure you that the vaccines are coming and they are coming very quickly barring any change in the delivery plan that has been released to us by UNICEF,” Mr. Mustapha said.
Mr. Mustapha also said that the vaccines should depart India on Monday the 1st of March, 2021 at 10:30 pm and arrive in Abuja on the 2nd of March by 11:10 am.
This is good news for Nigerians, as the country will be expecting a total of 16 million vaccines to help curb the coronavirus. COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility (COVAX), a World Health Organisation-backed program set-up to divide about two billion doses would be aiding the distribution of these vaccines to various low and middle-income countries.
The Nigerian government had earlier reported that the vaccines would be arriving at the end of February.
However, Mr. Osagie, the Nigerian Health Minister disclosed on Wednesday that the stated date of arrival of vaccines would not be possible and arrival may wait till march.
Other countries benefitting from the COVAX program include Ghana and Ivorycoast. It was announced on Wednesday that Ghana received 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca. This made Ghana the first country to benefit from the COVAX program.
Ivory Coast is also said to have received 500,000 doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. A lot has happened in the past year, the Nigerian Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has recorded over 155,000 cases of coronavirus and at least 1900 deaths.
This is a big step forward in combatting the virus. It is also important to praise the efforts of the frontline workers as they have played a huge role in our fight against the virus.
