COVID-19: FG spends N122bn on 29m doses of vaccine
…Rules out lockdown despite surge in infections
By Ariemu Ogaga, Abuja
The federal government on Thursday said N122 billion was spent to procure 29 million doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
This is coming on the heels of federal government plans to begin the second phase vaccination on August 16.
The executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib stated this on Thursday when the federal government took delivery of the first batch of 177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
The procurement of the doses was done through the African Vaccine Acquisition Team (AVAT) of the African Union Commission, through a facility provided by the AFREXIMBANK.
Shuaib said the procurement of the 29 million doses, which cost $298.5 million or over N122 billion, is to enable the country vaccinate 70 per cent of the population.
He added that rollout schedule for the 177,600 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccines will begin on Monday, pending the delivery of the remaining doses.
The development comes less than a week after Nigeria received 4.08 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the United States.
According to Shuaib, the J&J doses will be administered to those who are in hard-to-reach areas.
“The balance of the vaccine will subsequently be delivered in monthly tranches,” he said.
“This batch of J&J vaccine will be focused on those who are in the hard-to-reach areas, riverine areas, desert areas, security-compromised areas, the elderly and frail individuals, across the country.
“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.”
The federal government also disclosed that it is not considering another lockdown as the country records a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Minister of health, Osagie Ehanire made this known on Thursday during the weekly state house press briefing.
Nigeria is currently battling the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic following the emergence of the Delta variant.
On Wednesday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 790 COVID-19 cases across 12 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) – the highest single-day count in over six months.
Due to the surge in the number of infections, many Nigerians are worried that a lockdown may be imminent.
Speaking on the development, Ehanire said Nigeria has not reached a threat level that will warrant imposing a lockdown, adding that lockdown poses a great threat to business activities.
The minister said most countries that are threatened by COVID-19 infections no longer impose general lockdown but a precision lockdown, where certain areas are shut down.
“We are not at a level yet where we are feeling that threat to do any lockdown but I tell you many countries are not doing generalised lockdown but precision lockdown,” he said.
“As I speak to you now, there are several countries who are on one kind of lockdown or the other, at least if my recollection is correct, six or seven countries are on one form of lockdown or the other. We do not have that on the table right now.”
