Nigeria receives 177,600 doses of Johnson&Johnson COVID-19 Vaccines

*The Federal Government discloses the Johnson&Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 Vaccines are expected to be deployed in hard-to-reach areas so as to eliminate the need for travel for a second dose in such locations in the country

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

As part of measures aimed at increasing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination programme, the Federal Government Thursday, August 12, 2021, took delivery of 177,600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 Vaccines.

The government has acquired the single-shot J&J Vaccines through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), with support from Afrexim Bank.

The vaccines were partly manufactured in Africa, according to the Africa Centre for Disease Control (AfricaCDC).

ConsumerConnect had reported Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) recently disclosed that the J&J Vaccines are expected to be deployed in hard-to-reach areas in order to eliminate the need for travel for a second dose in such locations in Nigeria.

Dr. Shuaib said the 177,600 doses of Johnson and Johnson Vaccines are part of the 29,850,000 doses procured from the African Union (AU) through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) platform.

He said: “The balance of the vaccines will be delivered over the coming months.

“But we are glad to hear that before the end of August, the total quantity of vaccines that we will be receiving is 1,173,132.

Commenting on the development, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Honourable Minister for Health, at a media briefing Thursday, in the State House, Abuja, FCT, noted that Nigeria has procured nearly 40 million doses of the vaccine through AVAT as more of the J&J vaccines are being expected in the country.

The country is expected to ramp up the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination programme, after receiving over four million doses of the Moderna Vaccines from the United States Government lately.

The second phase of the national vaccination programme is expected to kick-off in Abuja, FCT, Monday, August 16 following the recent postponement due to what the authorities described as “unforeseen circumstances”.

However, only about one percent of the over 210million Nigerian population has been vaccinated so far, according to report.

Government not considering a lockdown in economy

In view of the increasing cases of Coronavirus infections in recent times, the Federal Government Thursday said it was not considering a lockdown in the economy.

Dr. Ehanire said that the number of cases was not threatening enough, yet, for a lockdown to be considered.

Nigeria Wednesday, August 11 had recorded 790 cases of new COVID-19 infections, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The health agency stated the figure was the highest in about six months.

A recent surge in infections has been partly attributed to the Delta variant, which is believed to be more contagious and deadlier.

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