The Federal Government of Nigeria has received no fewer than 2.6 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine donation from the government of Canada to support Nigeria’s COVID-19 vaccination exercise.
The Nigerian Government recently launched an optimized SCALES 3.0 strategy to boost the vaccination rollout process and combine childhood routine immunization against diseases like polio, yellow fever, measles and other childhood diseases that can be prevented by vaccine in the same locations where the adults get COVID-19 vaccines.
In his speech during the event, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said Nigeria is in a total campaign mode in which COVID-19 vaccines are ready-made available in the health facilities as well as other designated places and also brought to people door steps by the vaccination teams.
He said, “We are leveraging on our polio eradication experience to fight COVID-19, and we are pretty sure that with the kind of support we have received from the Canadian government today, and the continued cooperation of our partners and stakeholders, we will, sooner than expected, be able to put COVID-19 behind us in Nigeria.
“I am pleased to inform you that the Canadian government has donated 2,649,600 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines to Nigeria. On behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, I want to sincerely thank the Government of Canada for providing this much-needed support. This donation is critical to helping Nigeria ramp up her vaccination rollout process.
“Johnson & Johnson offers a single-dose opportunity for full vaccination, which means if you take one dose of the vaccine, you are regarded as a fully vaccinated person. However, we strongly recommend a booster dose after 2 months of taking the initial dose to strengthen your level of immunity against COVID-19. A second dose of the J&J vaccine serves as the booster dose.
“The recent MIC/NIC survey results show that despite the pandemic, Nigeria is only one of the few countries globally that recorded improved immunization coverage. I would like to thank parents and guidance who continued to take their children for vaccination even with the difficulties and challenges faced during the lockdown and limited access to health facilities.”
While donating the vaccine doses, the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, James Christoff, said that this was his first work as an Ambassador to Nigeria.
The Ambassador recalled that the Canadian government had once donated over 800 thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Nigeria and said that the donation is in fulfilment of Canada’s commitment to backing developing countries in boosting vaccination against the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Ambassador, the world encountered challenges to develop an effective vaccine in 2020. The challenges led to the production and distribution of the vaccines in 2021 and we need to put this vaccine within people’s reach in 2022.
