29th March, 2021
By Abujah Racheal
Over 500,000 Nigerians have received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the National Primary Health Care Agency (NPHCDA) said on Sunday.
Nigeria commenced vaccination on 5 March, first with healthcare workers.
According to the agency, as at March 28, over 513,626 eligible people have been vaccinated in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The agency said that Kogi state is yet to commence vaccination as at March 28, because the state had not been supplied with the vaccine.
“Kogi State was not supplied with the vaccine because their cold store is still under repairs following vandalisation during the EndSARS protest,” it stated.
The NPHCDA said Lagos state had vaccinated 110,042 people, making it the highest in the country.
Ogun followed with 47,507, Kaduna-38,063, Bauchi-32,482, Katsina-28,918 and Kwara-26,473.
NPHCDA also said that the states with the lowest number of those vaccinated are Abia- 22, Taraba-111 and Kebbi-532,
Nigeria first received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and another 300,000 doses from telecom giant, MTN, as part of the latter’s contribution to Africa.
NPHCDA said that the vaccine roll-out would be in four phases, starting with health workers, frontline workers, COVID-19 rapid response team, laboratory network, policemen, petrol station workers and strategic leaders.
The Nigerian government hopes to vaccinate 109 million people against the COVID-19 virus over a period of two years