COVID-19: Nigeria takes delivery of 176,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines

Story from Kenneth AFOR, Lagos

Faisal Shuaibu, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has announced that Nigeria will be receiving 176,000 doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, August 11.

He disclosed this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.

The J&J vaccine which is a single-shot like the AstraZeneca, according to Shuaibu is safe and efficient against the coronavirus disease, including the deadlier Delta variant.

The vaccine is expected to boost Nigeria’s COVID-19 fight with the Delta variant triggering the fears of a third wave of the pandemic in the country.

Nigeria on August 1, 2021, received a second shipment of COVID-19 vaccines this time from the United States, the Moderna vaccines of about four million doses in number but the actual roll-out of vaccination was rescheduled due to “unforeseeable circumstances.”

The shipments so far would see the country have a sign of relief in the fight against the virus.

As of Monday, 422 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the country, with five more deaths.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the infections were recorded in nine states. Lagos maintained the lead with 190 cases, followed by Rivers (86) and Ogun (85).

Others are Oyo (22), FCT (20), Kwara (7), Edo (5), Abia (4), and Bayelsa (3).

So far, a total of 178,508 cases have been confirmed, 165,983 patients have recovered and 2,192 deaths have been recorded in 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory.