Until now, The Guardian investigation revealed that the country has taken delivery of only 3.92 million doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and expended just over one million as first doses, while nobody has received the second booster dose, which is supposed to be administered within four weeks of the first.
Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaibu, who made these disclosure at a briefing yesterday in Abuja, explained that there is currently a global shortfall of COVID-19 vaccines largely due to the manufacturers not meeting their projected targets and vaccine nationalism that has led producing countries to restrict exportation and protect vaccines for their citizens.
He observed that five states have the highest records of the AEFI- Kaduna, 970; Cross River 859; Yobe 541; Kebbi 511 and Lagos, 448.He informed that unlike what was reported in some countries, Nigeria was yet to diagnose any case of blood clots related to the administration of the vaccines, insisting that AstraZeneca vaccine administered to Nigerians is safe and effective against COVID-19.
Head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention , John Nkengasong, told reporters: “We cannot predict when the second doses will come, and that is not good for our vaccination programme. Nkengasong added: “We are in a bind as a continent. Access to vaccines has been limited for us,” hoping that India, where new infections have topped 200,000 a day, would lift its restriction as soon as possible.On December 30, last year, the United Kingdom announced a deviation from the recommended protocol for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, prolonging the interval between doses from three to 12 weeks.
Those who have received their first jab are already benefiting from some protection from the virus, Nkengasong said, urging nations to use their doses before they expire. Asked the health implications of not taking a second jab within the stipulated period, if any, Tomori stated: “The major health implication is that you may not be fully immunised or protected. So, for full protection, ensure you get the booster dose.”
Regarding whether Nigeria is vaccinating its target number for the period, the virologist said: “Certainly not. With the donation of only 3.9 million doses for a target of 70 per cent of our population and with the time scale of our national tardy and poorly coordinated roll out, we are miles off our target both in time schedule and population target.”
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.