The Presidential Taskforce,PTF on COVID19 has disclosed that the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from India will arrive Nigeria on Tuesday March 2nd provided that there is no change of plan.
The Secretary to the Government of the federation and PTF Chairman , Boss Mustapha who made the disclosure explained that the first shipment of 3,924,000 million doses of covid-19 vaccines is coming from COVAX, a World Health Organization (WHO)backed initiative set up to procure and ensure equitable distribution of vaccines for free among countries across the globe.
“We believe that our vaccines should depart India on the 1st of March, 2021 at 10:30 pm and arrive in Abuja on the 2nd of March by 11:10 am.” he said.
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He said by the time they supply all the range of the vaccines, about 84 million doses are expected from COVAX to be supplied to cover 20 percent of the Nigerian population.
In addition, he said that the federal government also has another source from the Harvard facility, which is the African Vaccine Action Team, a combination of Oxford AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
The SGF disclosed that no fewer than 41 million doses “are expected from the second source.”
He said that AstraZeneca “has a good range in terms of storage which does not come with any complications because it can be stored in +2 to +8 Degree Celsius and in cold chain facilities that are available in all local governments and wards in the country.”
He, however, cautioned the public that protection from COVID-19 requires a combination of vaccines and by strictly abiding by Non Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) that are in place, as well as need for personal hygiene and not congregating in a large gathering of people.
He said the country would ultimately arrive at a herd immunity by the time it gets 40 percent of the population vaccinated by 2021 and another 30 percent by 2022, which is a cumulative of 70 per cent of the population.
