Nigeria Receives Almost 4 Million Vaccines from COVAX
Nigeria received almost 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. The delivery is the third and most significant delivery so far to Africa by the global COVAX initiative, which was set up to ensure that lower – middle class has fair access to vaccines.
The COVAX scheme sent 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India, from Mumbai to Abuja, according to a statement from UNICEF that is working with the World Health Organization.
GAVI is a foreign vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populated nation. It has more than 200 million residents and recently experienced a surge of COVID-19 cases. As of Tuesday, March 2, 2021, the West African nation had recorded a cumulative total of 156,017 patients, including 1,915 deaths.
Tuesday’s delivery is part of the first batch of vaccines that arrived in Nigeria and will continue in the coming days and weeks.
One of the statements by Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, explained that; after a year of hindrances because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they celebrate the efforts made to get the vaccine to Nigeria.
With over 150,000 Nigerians infected with the virus and over 1,800 lives lost to the cold hands of death, the path to improvement for the people of Nigeria can finally start.
He also said that this happens to be a very significant occasion because the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Nigeria is crucial in controlling the pandemic. In addition to his statement, he made it clear that the only way out of this crisis is to ensure that vaccinations are accessible to everyone.
According to the World Health Organization, the COVAX scheme is meant to deliver around 90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the African continent in the first half of 2021 most extensive vaccine procurement and supply operation in the history of UNICEF. Nigeria is part of 92 countries worldwide that will get vaccines for free through the COVAX scheme. Another 90 countries and eight territories decided to pay for doses.
However, the COVAX initiative was obstructed by the severely limited global supply of doses and transportation problems that delayed the worldwide distribution of the vaccines.
Ghana was the first country to receive COVAX vaccines the week before, begins its vaccination campaign Tuesday, March 2.
The vaccine campaign from March 2 to 15 will occur in 43 districts that are the epicenter of the pandemic.
Ivory Coast also received 504,000 doses of the vaccine the week before. They started giving shots on Monday in the business capital called Abidjan.
Thabani Maphosa, the managing director for country programs at Gavi, the vaccine alliance, stated that this is a massive milestone for Nigeria and the COVAX program’s goal to eradicate the critical stage of the pandemic by ensuring easy access to the vaccines all over the world.
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