Speaking at the national briefing of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC), the executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, said 1.8 million eligible persons have been fully vaccinated.
Shuaib said the number of the fully vaccinated eligible Nigerians were gathered from records within six months the country commenced her vaccination campaign across Nigeria.
He also said that as at Sunday 26, September 2021, a total of 4,734,769 eligible people in Nigeria have received their first dose of COVID vaccine.
According to Shuaib, this comprises of individuals who have received 3,040,000 first dose AstraZeneca and 1,694,769 first dose of Moderna.
Shuaib said: “This represents 4.2% of the 111,776,503 eligible populations who are targeted to receive full doses of the vaccines for Nigeria to reach herd immunity.”
“Out of the total vaccinated, 1,892,092 eligible persons have received their second dose of which 1,825,739 have been fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca while 66,353 eligible persons have been fully vaccinated with Moderna.”
Crackdown on Vaccine Card Racketeering
Shuaib, again, issued stern warning to syndicates and unscrupulous elements in the society attempting to fraudulently acquire or sell COVID-19 cards without receiving the vaccine.
Describing such act as criminal, he said that the Federal Government provided these vaccines free of charge to all eligible persons.
He warned that officers in charge of every designated health facility would be held accountable for every vaccination card and QR code.
He said: “These must match the quantities of vaccines and devices provided. Supervisors and the newly established joint task force (JTF) would be examining the records on health facilities to ensure consistency in inventories.”
“States will be supported to strengthen their monitoring mechanism as well and urge all Nigerians to report anyone who tries to buy or sell the vaccination cards to the NPHCDA and other offices,” Shuaib added.
Nigeria’s Fate on UK Travel Advisory
Reacting to a recent statement by the British High Commission in Abuja, Shuaib said the vaccines administered in Nigeria are recognized and approved by their regulatory body.
He added that by October 4, 2021, the UK government would simplifying their classification process to ‘red list’ and ‘rest of the World’ which is a plus for Nigeria.
He said: “This indicates that the on-going vaccination exercise in Nigeria, is widely recognized. Please let us not let carriers of misinformation and disinformation prevent us from taking the decision to protect ourselves, our family and our loved ones.”
“It is important to point out that a lot more work needs to be done for our country to reach its target goal of vaccinating at least 70 per cent of the eligible population of 111,776,503, not only in terms of provision of vaccines but more importantly, in terms of mobilizing our friends, families and communities to get vaccinated,” he said.