TheCable

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says as of September 26, a total of 4.7 million people have received the first dose of the COVID vaccine.

Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Faisal Shuaib, NPHCDA executive director, said out of the total number of the people that have been vaccinated, 1.8 million have received the second jab.

“Our data as of yesterday, 26th September 2021, shows that 4,734,769 eligible people in Nigeria have received their first dose of COVID vaccine,” he said.

“This comprises 3,040,000 with first dose AstraZeneca and 1,694,769 with the first dose of Moderna.

“This represents 4.2 percent of the 111,776,503 eligible population, who are targeted to receive full doses of the vaccines for Nigeria to reach herd immunity.

“Out of the total vaccinated, 1,892,092 eligible persons have received their second dose of which 1,825,739 have been fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca, while 66,353 eligible persons have been fully vaccinated with Moderna.”

He also spoke on the concerns raised about the new travel advisory issued by the United Kingdom, and insisted that the vaccines administered in Nigeria are recognised internationally.

“On September 25th, 2021, the British High Commission, Abuja released a press statement which clearly states that the vaccines administered in Nigeria are recognised and approved by their regulatory body,” Shuaib said.

“They also clarified that come October 4th, 2021, they would be simplifying their classification process to ‘red list’ and ‘rest of the world’. Nigeria would be moving from ‘amber’ to the ‘rest of the world’ list.

“This indicates that the ongoing vaccination exercise in Nigeria is widely recognised. Please, let us not let carriers of misinformation and disinformation prevent us from taking the decision to protect ourselves, our family and our loved ones.”

He added that those attempting to fraudulently acquire COVID-19 vaccination cards without receiving the jab will be dealt with.