News24
02 Mar 2021, 20:11 GMT+10
Nearly four million coronavirus jabs arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday, making Africa's most populous nation the latest country to receive vaccines from Covax, a global scheme to provide free inoculations.
An Emirates flight carrying the shipment arrived shortly before noon at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the capital Abuja, an AFP journalist said.
It contained 3.94 million Oxford/AstraZenica doses, the UN and Nigeria's health agency added.
Richer countries have surged ahead with vaccinations, but many poorer countries are still awaiting deliveries, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to warn that the crisis cannot end unless everyone can inoculate their populations.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, that arrived in Nigeria are the first of 16 million doses that Covax plans to deliver over the coming months to the country of 200 million people.
"Today is a good day for Nigeria," Faisal Shuaib, director of the primary healthcare agency, said in a statement.
"Our team is ready to start administering doses to frontline health workers."
Nigeria's food and drug control agency approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for use last month.
Vaccinations are scheduled to start Friday with frontline workers and support staff followed by the president and vice president on Saturday, a government spokesman Garba Shehu told AFP.
The Nigerian government said it hoped to vaccinate at least 70 percent of its adult population over the next two years.
"As the vaccines arrive in batches due to limited supply we will inform Nigerians about who and where to receive the vaccine," Shuaib told reporters Monday.
The agency launched a self-registration portal online to try to ease the rollout but the country faces immense challenges due to security and logistics.
"States without a functional airport will have their vaccines transported by road using vans with fitted cold cabins, from the nearest airport," Shuaib said.
The West African country has recorded 156 017 cases and 1 915 deaths since the start of the pandemic, though the figures are considered undercounted given the low number of tests administered.
A new virus variant has also been discovered in Nigeria, but researchers have not yet determined if it is more contagious or deadly than the original strain.
Last week, Ghana and Ivory Coast were the first African countries to receive vaccines from Covax, an initiative led by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) with UNICEF as implementing partner.
Get a daily dose of Kenya Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Kenya Star.
More InformationBirmingham [UK], July 5 (ANI): KL Rahul continued his fine overseas run in Test cricket, becoming only the second Indian opener after...
* China's first LEGOLAND resort opened on Saturday in Shanghai. * Spanning 318,000 square meters, LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort is the...
Worcester [UK], July 5 (ANI): India's 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi cracked the fastest century in the U19 ODI...
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 5 (ANI): Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson made a record-breaking return to the Kerala...
* In recent years, BRICS has transformed into a major force fostering cooperation among Global South nations. This collaboration not...
(Photo credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images) Catcher Agustin Ramirez, who entered this weekend leading all major-league rookies with...
VILNIUS, Lithuania – A growing body of research suggests that selectively restricting a single nutrient in our diet could have profound...
More than 200kg of uranium enriched to 60% are missing, according to the journalist Last month's US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities...
Kabul [Afghanistan], July 5 (ANI): A large number of Afghans recently deported from Iran are facing severe challenges, including homelessness,...
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], July 5 (ANI): BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Saturday slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his remarks...
Birmingham [UK], July 5 (ANI): Indian skipper Shubman Gill concluded a record-breaking Birmingham Test against England with breathtaking...
GUIYANG, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Since 2021, Chinese courts have reported a steady decline in first-instance environmental and resource-related...