Story from Kenneth AFOR, Lagos
The Federal Government of Nigeria will on Monday take the delivery of about 4.8 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
This was disclosed on Sunday in a memo issued to journalists by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said the consignment is a donation from the United States of American government.
The expected shipment will be the largest of vaccines received since the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign started in March this year when the nation received the first shipment of about 3.92 million AstraZeneca vaccines facilitated by COVAX which has already been exhausted a few weeks ago.
The yet to be received Moderna vaccines will be needed to ramp up vaccination across the country even as new COVID-19 cases of infections are on the rise transmitting to the third wave and the emergence of the Delta Variant.
The country has recorded 497 newly confirmed cases in 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with Lagos remaining the epicentre of the virus.
While the nation’s commercial capital recorded 211 cases, Akwa-Ibom State came second with 80 new cases while Kwara recorded 73 cases.
In the South-West, Osun State is ranked 4th on the list with 29 cases while Oyo and Rivers each raked in 17 cases. Cross River recorded 15, Anambra nine and Ogun eight.
