Nigeria has received 177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines from the African Union (AU).
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this on Thursday during an inspection of the vaccines at the Nigerian National Strategic Cold Store near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Shuaib said the vaccines were delivered to the country through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task (AVAT), which he said Nigeria has since subscribed to.
He said, “Nigeria took delivery of 177,600 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, being part of the 29,850,000 doses that the Federal Government of Nigeria procured through the AVAT of the AU Commission through the facility provided by African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK).
“The balance of the vaccine will subsequently be delivered in monthly tranches.”
He added that “This batch of J&J vaccine will be focused on those who are in the hard-to-reach areas (riverine areas, desert areas and security-compromised areas), the elderly and frail individuals.
“This is because the J&J vaccine is administered as a single dose vaccine unlike the AstraZeneca and Moderna that require two doses for complete vaccination.”
This is coming barely one week after Nigeria received about 4 million doses of Moderna vaccines, which were donated by the United States of America.
Also, on Thursday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 753 new COVID-19 infections in the country, bringing the total since the outbreak to 180,661. The NCDC also reported the death of 5 people from the virus, bringing the fatality toll to 2,200.
