Nigeria started COVID-19 vaccination at the National Hospital in Abuja on Friday, with Dr Ngong Cyprian being the first to be vaccinated.
Faith Eragbai, a nurse, and doctors Nuru Joseph Thairu Yunusa were among the first group of health care staff to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“It’s a momentous occasion today as we administer the first dose to one of our foremost frontline Medical Doctor in the fight against COVID-19,” the executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said.
“The vaccines we are administering today are safe and effective.”
Frontline staff will be the first to obtain the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, Shuaib said at the second State House weekly briefing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, he said, after some frontline health staff.
On the same day as the president, Boss Mustapha, chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, will receive his first dose of the vaccine.
The first batch of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was sent to Nigeria from the COVAX plant.
At around 11.45 a.m., an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER aircraft carrying 3.94 million doses of the vaccine arrived at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, where it was met by Boss Mustapha, Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
Mustapha revealed that special vaccination centers will be set up for top government officials.
According to Shuaib, about 2.3 million Nigerians have registered for COVID-19 vaccinations through the online registration portal
“In less than 24 hours, 2.3 million Nigerians have registered to take the vaccines and the numbers keep increasing,” Faisal Shuaib said during a Channels TV interview.
According to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Osindeinde Ademilayo Abodede, a healthcare worker, was the first to enrol for the vaccine. Her appointment in Abuja was set for March 12th.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
