The National Primary Health Care Development Agency on Friday said over 60 million Nigerians of the total eligible persons targeted for COVID-19 vaccination have been fully vaccinated, Punch reports.
The NPHCDA said the proportion represents over 54 per cent of the target population.
It also said over 70 million Nigerians of the target population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, representing over 65 per cent of the target population.
The NPHCDA disclosed this on Friday in Abuja at the national evaluation meeting of milestone achievements in COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria.
Presenting the COVID-19 milestones, Dr Adejoke Oladele of the NPHCDA said, “In November 2020, with the guidance of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, the NPHCDA set up the COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy Group and Technical Working Groups comprising government officials, partners, and donors to drive the process of COVID-19 vaccination.
“The SG identified the target population for COVID-19 vaccination to be persons 18 years and above, which is 51.4 per cent of the population (111,776,503 persons). A national target of 70 per cent coverage was set for the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.
“In March 2021, Nigeria received about four million doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility and on March 5, 2021, administered the first dose of COVID -19 vaccine to health workers in National Hospital, FCT, Abuja.
Since then, the country has received over 127.5 million doses of Oxford AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines as donations from friends of Nigeria, COVAX facility, and purchase by the Federal Government of Nigeria via the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.
The United State Government’s vaccine donation to Nigeria currently stands at 32.6 million doses among other support.
“In collaboration with the United State Government, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund, other international and local partners, and non-governmental organisations, the Nigerian Government has strived to ensure COVID-19 vaccines, routine immunisation, and other PHC services reach every corner of the country to ensure all persons receive basic health care.
“To date, over 54 per cent of the target population has been fully vaccinated translating to over 60 million persons.”
The progress report of vaccination in the country shows that as of December 14, the top five performing states in COVID-19 vaccination are Jigawa, Nasarawa, Osun, Kaduna, and Kano.
Dr. Oladele added that there is a need to define and implement key interventions to reduce inequalities in vaccination, and primary health care services in alignment with the government of Nigeria’s priorities in reducing the number of zero-dose and under-immunised children.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib said the agency implemented different anti-COVID-19 mitigation and containment strategies through sustained partnership and collaboration with partners and stakeholders.
On his part, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi hailed the agency and partners in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
