Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The Federal Government on Tuesday said an additional 100,000 doses of the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine has been received from India.
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha made the announcement during a press briefing in Abuja.
The vaccines, donated by the government of India to Nigeria, will help boost the number of Nigerians to be vaccinated by about 50,000, Mr. Mustapha said.
Mr. Mustapha also announced that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the transitioning of the PTF to the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on Covid-19, effective from April 1, 2021.
The PSC, which will now operate with a modified mandate to reflect the non-emergent status of the Covid-19, will function up till December 31.
Vaccination boost
Nigeria had received 3.94 million Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the WHO-backed vaccine initiative COVAX in early March, triggering the commencement of the country’s vaccination drive.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Nigeria had vaccinated 964,387 eligible persons against the Covid-19 virus, according to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
The additional vaccines from India are expected to boost the country’s efforts to vaccinate most of its population against the virus.
The Federal Government has said it is seeking to vaccinate no fewer than 70 percent of its over 200 million-strong population.
More vaccine doses are still expected from COVAX as well as from an African Union scheme financed by the African Export-Import Bank.
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