The federal government has appealed to Nigerians not to be hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it gets to Nigeria.
An official also said President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo and other prominent Nigerians are willing to be among the first set of persons to receive the vaccine on live television to help drive acceptance.
“This is in accordance with terms of the prioritization of vaccines and strategic country leadership. These critical leaders and others would likely take the vaccine in full glare of the public to demonstrate that this vaccine is safe.”
Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said this at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) briefing on COVID-19 on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria intends to get 42 million COVID-19 vaccines to cover one fifth of its population through the global COVAX scheme.
The initial vaccines would come as part of Nigeria’s plan to inoculate 40 per cent of the population in 2021 and another 30 per cent in 2022, with 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arriving by the end of January 2021.
The COVAX scheme was set up to provide vaccines to poorer countries including Nigeria whose 200 million people and poor infrastructure posed a daunting challenge to medical officials rolling out the vaccinations
