The Federal Government has received a total of One million, nine hundred and thirty-six thousand and fifty doses of the Johnson  and Johnson COVID vaccine from the European Union. 

The vaccines were handed over to officials of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA,  at the national strategic cold store in Abuja.

The European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, said the delivery was part of a donation pledge by the European Union to African countries via the COVAX initiative launched by the World Health Organization in 2020 to distribute vaccines to some of the world’s poorest people.

 “The doses were part of a global donation of almost twenty million J&J doses from EU member states to Nigeria” and more would arrive in the coming weeks”

In his contribution, the World Health Organization’s representative Alexander Chimbaru noted that the delivery would enable more Nigerians to get vaccinated against COVID 19.

“The essence was to ensure that no one is left unvaccinated” 

Responding to the gesture, the Executive Director,  National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said  with the new delivery, Nigeria now has a total of twelve million, nine hundred and sixteen thousand, four hundred and fifty doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“On behalf of the federal government of Nigeria, I want to sincerely appreciate the European Union for your continued partnership in development. We have no doubt about the commitment of the European Union to the eradication of COVID-19 from Nigeria and the rest of the world. The onus is upon us to make rational and effective use of the vaccines,” 

According to Dr. Shuaib, this batch of vaccines will expire in August 2023. So we have that ample time to administer before that time.

“At the moment, Nigeria currently has in country  twelve million, nine hundred and sixteen thousand, four hundred and fifty doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”

” Hard-to-reach riverine, desert and security-compromised areas would initially be prioritised since the J&J vaccine only requires a single dose”.

“The shelf life for the vaccines is the longest that Nigeria has received so far.

He explained that the country had been accepting vaccines with short shelf lives from donor nations in an attempt to use them quickly and provide some level of protection for Nigerians due to vaccine scarcity in the past.

He added that the  government had focused on vaccinating people who are eighteen years old and above.