The Federal Government has on Monday disclosed that the second batch of the COVID-19 vaccination exercise for the Moderna vaccines donated by the US government will commence on August 16. The Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed made the disclosure on ta live National Television Authority (NTA) programme, saying the postponement of the vaccination exercise from August 10 to August 16 was based on administrative reasons.
He noted that the country received over 4 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
“We have received 4,80,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and we will commence administering the doses on Monday Aug. 16.
“The exercise was supposed to commence tomorrow Aug. 10, but we suspended it till Monday, and the reason is purely administrative.
“You see, when vaccines arrive the country, they are taken to National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“The agency which will analyse them and thereafter give us a green light for the use,’’ he said.
He further explained that the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine administered during the first batch has been exhausted, encouraging Nigerians to get the Moderna vaccine as it is equally as effective as the AstraZeneca.
“I want to thank Nigerians for the way they responded to the first batch of Astrazeneca Vaccine.
“I can say authoritatively that we succeeded administering the four million doses of the vaccine and we do not have a single expired vaccine.
“They were all administered to the targeted population.
“I want to encourage Nigerians to come out also to take the Moderna vaccine," the Minister said.
Mr. Mohammed also noted that the second batch of the vaccination exercise will focus on people from ages 18 and above, and urged Nigerians to be properly informed on the vaccines available and ignore false information.
“If you have our two doses, it is clear that even if you are infected with COVID-19, it will be very mild.
“You will not be hospitalised, talk less of death as opposed to the fellow that has not taken the vaccine.
“So, we must encourage people to go out and take the vaccine,’’
Vigil360news reports that the donation was part of a pledge by President Joe Biden to give 500 million vaccines by the end of 2022, adding that over 80 million doses have been delivered to 129 territories through the COVAX initiative including Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.
