…Japan donates over 800,000 vaccine doses, solar refrigerators
By Hassan Zaggi
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over, hence, advised Nigerians to get vaccinated against the disease.
The WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi gave the warning in Abuja at the celebration of one year of first COVID-19 vaccine delivery in Nigeria.
The occasion also witnessed the donation through the COVAX facility of 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 175 Solar Direct drive Refrigerators to aid COVID-19 response in Nigeria by the government of Japan.
“Let me emphasis that COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over. We have seen that every four to five months, a new variant is emerging taking advantage of the unimmunized population. So, we need to stop that circle and one of the tool we have in our hands is COVID-19 vaccination,” Dr. Kazadi stressed.
He recalled that: “Its one year anniversary since the COVID-19 vaccine arrived Nigeria. Its one year a child that was born starts learning how to walk and to run.
“When we received the first donation, there was a lot of uncertainty around the world on vaccine supply, there was vaccine hoarding. It was just one side of the world that they secured the vaccine while the other side of the world including Nigeria was struggling not knowing how it will conduct the vaccination exercise itself.
“We received the first donation through COVAX and we were not sure when even the second dose will be administered. Nigeria has to make some strategic decisions to ensure that at least, those who received the first dose at that time get the opportunity to get the second amidst uncertainty of vaccine supply.
“Today, one year later, following the solidarity of countries like Japan, the supply through the COVAX has been expanded.
“Today, it is not about the availability of vaccine, we have more vaccine, more vaccine in the pipe line and this is why we are very grateful to the government of Japan for providing additional AstraZenica vaccine to support effort in Nigeria to make sure that by June this year, 70 per cent of eligible population are fully immunized.”
He, however, applauded the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, for his leadership in upscaling the programme with the launch of the optimized scale strategy.
“We have seen tremendous achievements over the last two months. We see Nigeria rising from less than 20,000 doses administered in a day to over 200,000 in a day. We need to keep that momentum for us to meet the target of 70 per cent eligible population this year,” he noted.
| Speaking earlier, the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, commended the federal government through the NPHCDA for showing leadership to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and also use this pandemic as an opportunity to respond to it and strengthen the health system, especially the primary healthcare. According to him: “We are seeing how now we are vaccinating over 200,000 people per day, we are seeing how the cold chain and other equipment have improved massively over the last one year, we are seeing how vaccines are delivered to people that actually need them. “The leadership of the NPHCDA has done remarkable during the last one year and half. “As well, the government of Japan, we believe we are able to act and the donation we are receiving today is an example of that. “More than 800,000 doses of vaccine has arrived to Nigeria and are going to be delivered to the hands of the people that need them as well the donation of 175 solar refrigerators that we have as samples of them is really to make the difference at ward level, facility and state level on the capacity of what we need to store this vaccine. “This is on top of the cold rooms that are arriving the country. This is gesture the government of Japan is showing a way forward to other countries on how support and good partnership should look like.” While responding, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, Dr. Shuaib, applauded the government and people of Japan for the support to Nigeria at the time, he said, it is most needed. The donation of 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines bolsters the global effort to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the global community to ensuring Nigeria receives the vaccines it needs. “May I once again thank the Government of Japan for this generous donation, which will certainly go a long way in ensuring Nigerians are protected and also address vaccine storage challenges at the health facility level as well as improving accessibility to AstraZeneca in the country,” Dr. Shuaib stressed. |
