Nigeria will receive 176,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines on Wednesday, August 11, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said on Tuesday.
Faisal Shuaib, executive director, NPHCDA, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, said the vaccines being expected are part of the 29,850,000 doses that the Federal Government procured from the AFREXIM Bank through the African Union. Each dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, according to Shuaib, costs the Federal Government $7.5
He noted that while most brands of COVID-19 vaccines require two doses of varying intervals between the doses for full protection, Johnson and Johnson requires a single dose for full protection against the virus.
The ED said the initial dose that the country would receive would be targeted at those in hard-to-reach areas (riverine and desert areas) and the elderly, because these people may find it difficult to leave their homes to various health facilities for a second dose of the vaccine.
He, however, warned that mixing one brand of vaccine with another brand in the first and second doses was not allowed.
“Those who have received AstraZeneca as the first dose should receive AstraZeneca as the second dose, while those who will receive Moderna as the first dose will receive Moderna as the second dose when due. In a few days, we will take delivery of additional AstraZeneca vaccines and those who are due for a second dose of the vaccine will be prioritised.”
The ED said those who have taken their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccines and are due for their second dose would be given their second dose this August as the country expects up to 588,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility.
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“This is the first batch that will be coming in the next couple of days. Thereafter, we will be expecting up to 3.9million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines to complement what we already have and to make sure we cover not only those who will be taking their 2nd AstraZeneca vaccine but also for those who will want to take their 1st dose of this vaccine”, he said.
“In all communications, we have been clear that the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines are very effective against the Delta variant as cases are beginning to increase in states like Lagos and Akwa Ibom”, Shuaib added.
Shuaib further debunked reports that the agency is delaying the roll out of the Moderna vaccines due to documentations of the vaccine.
“On the contrary, the reason why we had to extend/postpone the launch date of the vaccine is because we want to institute once again in conjunction with NAFDAC the track and trace all the way to the health facility where the vaccines would be administered.
“This means that we are locally creating labels for the vaccine barcode that will ensure that this tracking and tracing continues just like we did in the first phase. Consequently, we want to call on all Nigerians to remain assured that the vaccines that we have are safe and will be deployed next week as earlier communicated. The flag off and roll out of the 2nd phase of the COVID-19 Vaccination program will be done on August 16th, 2021”, he added.
