NIGERIA TO RECEIVE COVID-19 VACCINES AT THE END OF JANUARY - PTF
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Sunday said Nigeria is expected to receive its first batchelf COVID-19 vaccines at the end January.
PTF National Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, who made the disclosure in an interview with ARISE News said vaccination of the public, especially those that are vulnerable, the elderly, and those that are most likely to have a severe illness, will be done.
Aliyu said; “In terms of when it is going to be available, there is a lot of work with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency and President Muhammadu Buhari also directed the PTF about two weeks ago to get involved with the nitty-gritty of making sure that the vaccines do come in a timely manner.
“We are expecting the first batch of vaccines possibly towards the end of January, but there’s a lot of work going on with our partners, in particular, Gavi and Nigeria should not be left behind. “The control of the COVID-19 pandemic will rely not only on full compliance with the non-pharmaceutical interventions but also on the availability and acceptance of vaccination programmes.
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“We cannot allow ourselves to become a pariah nation, we don’t really have a choice when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine, we have to vaccinate our public, especially those that are vulnerable, the elderly, those that are most likely to have severe illness and we will definitely not be left behind as a country.”
On November 9, Pfizer said it's COVID-19 vaccine was 90% effective against the COVID-19 disease.
The United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), and several other countries have received their first batch of the jab amid growing concerns of a new COVID-19 viral strain.
As of January 4, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reports that Nigeria has recorded 90,080 COVID-19 infections and 1,311 fatalities.
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