The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has said that the COVID-19 vaccines donated in the country should encourage every eligible Nigerian to get vaccinated against the virus.
The executive director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib said this during the handover ceremony of over 604,800 doses of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines from telecom giant, MTN.
Shuaib, who was represented by the director, disease control and immunisation, NPHCDA, Dr. Bassey Okposen said MTN has been a faithful partner in the country’s development.
The NPHCDA boss said despite vaccine availability, many people were still hesitant to be vaccinated.
“We seem to be having the wrong information or impression that COVID-19 no longer exists or is no longer a problem,” he said.
“The fact is that COVID-19 is still here with us in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world and it is a dangerous disease that can surge anytime, as it has mutating properties.”
He said the donation of 604,800 doses of vaccines means a potential 604,800 fully vaccinated Nigerians.
“This is to say that MTN is wishing Nigeria the fast lane to COVID-19 recovery,” he said.
He said Nigeria has successfully vaccinated 47,172,937 persons representing 42.2 per cent of her eligible population, with the first dose.
He said 34,242,083 persons have been fully vaccinated, representing 30.6 per cent of eligible persons.
He noted that 3,678,412 of the fully vaccinated persons have received their booster shot.
Shuaib appealed to all eligible Nigerians who are yet to be vaccinated to avail themselves of current opportunities to receive their COVID-19 vaccines.
“Over 47 million eligible persons in Nigeria have, so far, received the vaccines. Although these people constitute less than half of the overall population of eligible persons in the country, they cannot be wrong to have taken the vaccine,” he said.
Shuaib said the agency has since rolled out its SCALES 3.0 strategy for the COVID-19 campaign which provides a unique opportunity for a whole family to seek protection against vaccine-preventable diseases concurrently in one package.
“This means that we are vaccinating eligible persons against COVID-19 and other diseases such as hepatitis, yellow fever, polio, measles, etc., concurrently,” he said.
He urged parents to take advantage of this opportunity to get their eligible children vaccinated against vaccine-preventable childhood diseases as earlier mentioned.
The NPHCDA boss said with the continued support of partners and stakeholders at all levels, Nigeria will be able to attain herd immunity against COVID-19 and step-up recovery in the coming months.
In her remarks, the general manager of regional operations, MTN, Ms. Amina Dambata said the vaccines were donated based on the agreement reached with the African Union to distribute vaccines to the African region.
Dambata said the J&J vaccines would get to those in hard-to-reach areas within the country.
“I’m pleased on behalf of MTN to donate these vaccines today,” she said.
Science Nigeria reports that there are three approved or authorised vaccines in Nigeria used to prevent COVID-19.
“Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, you may get Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (J&J/Janssen) COVID-19 viral vector vaccine in some situations.
“These vaccines are given as a shot in the muscle of the upper arm or the thigh. None of them affects or interacts with our DNA in any way.
“COVID-19 vaccine ingredients are considered safe for most people. Nearly all of the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are ingredients found in many foods – fats, sugar and salts.
“They all have no preservatives like thimerosal or mercury or any other preservatives. No antibiotics like sulfonamide or any other antibiotics.
“No medicines or therapeutics like ivermectin or any other medications.
“No tissues like aborted fetal cells, gelatin, or any materials from any animal.
“No food proteins like eggs or egg products, gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, nut products, or any nut byproducts (COVID-19 vaccines are not manufactured in facilities that produce food products).
“No metals like iron, nickel, cobalt, titanium, rare earth alloys, or any manufactured products like microelectronics, electrodes, carbon nanotubes or other nanostructures, or nanowire semiconductors.
“The vial stoppers used to hold the vaccine also do not contain latex.
“After the body produces an immune response, it discards all of the vaccine ingredients, just as it would discard any substance that cells no longer need. This process is a part of normal body functioning.
