FG receives 176,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines today

…Explains delay in roll-out of Moderna vaccine

Nigeria will today receive 176,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, according to the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of National Primary Health care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib.

This is coming barely a week after the Federal Government received a little over 4 million doses of Moderna vaccines from the US government.

He also explained why the Federal Government was yet to rollout the Moderna vaccine, sayig it was to enable his agency work with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to track and trace the vaccines to health facility where it would be administered.

Dr. Shuaib said at a briefing in Abuja yesterday: “We will be receiving 176,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines tomorrow (today), Wednesday August 11.

“These 176,000 doses, as you are aware, are coming out of the 29,850,000 doses that the Federal Government procured from the AFREXIM Bank through the African Union.

“In the 1st phase of vaccination rollout, the collaboration between NAFDAC and NPHCDA led to the first ever tracking and tracing of vaccines globally.

“This tracking and tracing of vaccines from the national level to sub-national level and then to the point of administration was conducted for the first time in Nigeria as well.

“This is an innovative mechanism that made it possible for us to clearly monitor our stock from the National Strategic Cold Store in Abuja all the way to where the vaccines are being administered.

“This has never happened before in Nigeria. This is why when we had said we had finished the 1st phase of the vaccination on July 9, it was that there were no vaccines available anywhere and this kind of accountability is what we want to replicate in the phase 2 of the vaccination rollout.

“This is as a result of the leadership provided by the Presidential Steering Committee, FMOH, NAFDAC, NCDC and, of course, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, NPHCDA.’’

He reiterated that the agency would adopt what he called “the whole family approach” to integrate the COVID-19 vaccination with other basic PHC services, such as childhood vaccination, screening for hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition, among others.

“This is particularly important in view of the large number of cases of cholera that we are reporting across the country.

“Let me once gain state that any person who is 18 years and above is eligible to receive Moderna or any other brand of COVID-19 vaccine available. However, it is pertinent to state that mixing one brand of vaccine with another brand in first and second dose is not allowed. ‘’Those who have received AstraZeneca as first dose should receive AstraZeneca as second dose, while those who will receive Moderna as first dose will receive Moderna as second dose when due,’’ he added.

Explaining why the government has not rolled out the Moderna vaccine, Dr. Shuaib said:  “As you are already aware, NAFDAC took samples of the vaccines to test for their integrity, their consistency with what the global standard is, what the Nigerian standard is and to ensure that it is in line with the product information that has been provided by the US government and Moderna. NAFDAC has come back to state that they have approved the Moderna vaccine for use.

“The media reports that seem to suggest that we are delaying the rollout of the vaccines due to documentations of the vaccine is not correct. On the contrary the reason we had to extend/postpone the launch date of the vaccine is because we want to institute once again in conjunction with NAFDAC the track and trace all the way to health facility where the vaccine would be administered.

“This means that we are locally creating labels for the vaccines barcode that will ensure that this tracking and tracing continues just like we did in the 1st phase.

“Consequently, we want to call on all Nigerians to remain assured that the vaccines that we have are safe and will be deployed next week as earlier communicated. The flag-off and roll-out of the 2nd phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme will be done on August 16, 2021.

“As we write our stories, please let us put the interest of Nigerians and Nigeria first. We all have a responsibility to ensure that all those around us at home, at the office, in our places of worship get vaccinated so that we can collectively overcome this pandemic. It does not help when incorrect information is spread by the media.

“While we appreciate your understanding and the patience of the Nigerian public, it is important to mention that the delay witnessed in the rollout of the vaccine is a result of our continued commitment to work with our partners and other agencies to ensure that when we roll out the vaccines, they are as successful as what we witnessed during the 1st phase of the vaccination rollout.

“We are currently wrapping up the training of about 40,739 health workers across the national, state and ward level on our phase 2 strategic vaccine roll-out plan with focus on improving the delivery, communication, data management, management of the vaccines and logistics that are needed.

“A total of 3,363 teams will be used. 2,690 teams manning the fixed post and 673 manning temporary fixed post which will go from settlement to settlement especially around areas where people will congregate for example the houses of the traditional leaders, the markets and motor parks.

“While we are hopeful and well prepared to roll out the 2nd Phase vaccination plan, we are by no means oblivious of the fact that there are challenges ahead.”

, especially now that the country has started receiving different brands of COVID-19 vaccines.

“We are aware that Nigerians would want to know if there is a preferred brand. Let me assure everyone that COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of brand, as long as they have been approved by NAFDAC, provide adequate protection against the disease