Pascal Arogorn Ibe
President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and other prominent Nigerians will be among the first set of Nigerians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on live television.
They are expected to receive the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday, March 6.
The Executive Director/CEO, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said this on Monday at the joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
Daily Trust reports that four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines will arrive in the country from India on Tuesday.
Shuaib had, on January 7, said Buhari, Vice President Osinbajo, the SGF and other prominent Nigerians will be among the first set of Nigerians to receive the vaccine.
According to him, this is to help drive awareness on the virus and the vaccine administration in the country when it finally arrives.
He urged Nigerians not to be hesitant about the vaccines when they arrive.
At Monday’s briefing, Faisal said the first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 3,924,000 doses, is expected to arrive in Nigeria Tuesday, 2 March 2021 at 11:10 am.
He assured Nigerians that all necessary safety and quality control measures have been put in place for the arrival, storage and successful administration of the vaccine in the country.
According to him, there is going to be a mini ceremony chaired by the Chairman of the PTF on COVID-19 to receive the vaccine at the VIP Protocol section, General Aviation Terminal of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He said at the end of the ceremony to mark the arrival of the vaccines, a few vials of the vaccines would be handed over to the NAFDAC team which they will analyse over a period of two days (Wednesday, March 3 and Thursday, March 4).
“Further to the clearance by NAFDAC, the PTF, FMOH, NPHCDA and strategic leaders will be at the treatment centre of the National Hospital on Friday, March 5th 2021, where the first vaccination site will be set up to commence the vaccination of the frontline health workers and support staff.
These Staff would also be electronically registered in the COVID-19 vaccine database and would receive their COVID-19 vaccination card which has a QR code that can be verified worldwide.
“On Saturday, March 6th, key strategic leaders will receive the first dose of the vaccine,” Faisal said.
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