#OMICRON VARIANT: Nigerians To Start Getting #Covid-19 Booster Shots Today As US Donates 2.5M Doses—-As part of its plan in curbing the deadly coronavirus disease, The Federal Government will today (Friday) begin the administration of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
The federal government had approved booster shots for Nigerians that have completed two doses of AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer BioNTech, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson.
The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) had said eligible Nigerians should visit health centers and mass vaccination sites from December 10 to get their booster dose.
Speaking on Thursday at the flag-off of the mass vaccination of refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), Faisal Shuaib, executive director of NPHCDA, said the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has been approved as booster shots.
“Following the detection of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the federal government reviewed the country’s vaccination programme and resolved to introduce the booster dose using the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine across the country,” he said.
Giving further clarification, Yanda Muhammad, NPHCDA spokesman, told TheCable that the Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine recommenced by the federal government as a booster dose.
He said those who have received complete doses of other brands of the COVID-19 vaccine can take the Pfizer vaccine as a booster shot.
“Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine recommended for booster vaccination regardless of previous brands of vaccines taken,” he said.
US donates additional 2.5m doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nigeria
In a related development, the United States Embassy has received 2.5 million Pfizer vaccine doses in Abuja, which were presented to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency for cold storage.
The vaccines will be distributed to over 3,000 health facilities across the country.
The mission in a statement on Thursday, titled, ‘US donates additional 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nigeria this week,’ said the vaccines would be available at major markets, shopping malls, event centers, motor parks, airports, places of employment, and religious institutions as part of Nigeria’s mass vaccination campaign.
It said, “To date, the United States has donated more than 13.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with COVAX, or bilaterally to Nigeria.
“Additionally, the United States has provided more than $119 million in COVID-19 related health assistance. This includes a 40-bed mobile field hospital, ventilators and related training for 88 hospitals, personal protective equipment, technical assistance for vaccine readiness, risk communication and demand generation for vaccines, conducting an epidemiological COVID-19 detection and vaccine hesitancy survey, setting up electronic record systems, rapid response teams, training for over 200,000 military and civilian personnel on COVID-19 control measures, and technology for virtual training.”
In addition, the US said it had also leveraged the PEPFAR-supported National Integrated Specimen Referral Network and laboratory investments to support the expansion of the 153 molecular laboratory network nationwide.
The mission quoted the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who noted earlier this month that “the COVID-19 pandemic won’t end for any country until it ends for all countries.
“Otherwise, the virus will keep replicating around the world, people will keep getting sick and dying, and we won’t be able to safely reopen our economies or travel around the world for business and tourism the way we used to. That’s why the United States is committed to helping end the pandemic in Nigeria and everywhere.”
The US expressed its commitment to donate more than one billion vaccine doses around the world, by early 2022 and in African countries primarily through the COVAX initiative.
