The federal government, on Saturday, announced that it will begin to administer the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines it received this month on Tuesday.
The Nigerian government had recently received over four million doses of the Moderna vaccine donated by the United States government.
According to a statement signed by Willie Bassey, spokesperson to the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, the second batch of vaccines will aid the country’s efforts in battling the third wave of coronavirus infections.
“The PSC has received over four million doses of Moderna vaccine donated by the U.S. Government to Nigeria,” Bassey said.
“In view of the above, the inoculation is scheduled from Tuesday, Aug. 10, at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, off Airport road, Abuja.”
Nigeria had earlier kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination program in April, after receiving 3.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX initiative.
Covax was set up to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to low-income countries, and has already delivered more than 80 million doses to 129 territories.
The Moderna vaccine, which was approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in July, are expected to boost the country’s vaccination programme.
Last month, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed that it had detected the Delta variant in the country, putting officials on alert for a possible third wave of infections in the country.
In June, the federal government barred passengers who are not citizens or permanent residents from entering the country if they have been in South Africa in the past 14 days.
The decision followed similar restrictions imposed on travellers coming from Brazil, India and Turkey.
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