The vaccines being received at the cargo wing of the International airport

Nigeria has received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Assess Facility, COVAX.

This makes Nigeria the third African country to benefit from the COVAX facility after Ghana and Ivory Coast.

COVAX, an initiative co-led by the vaccine alliance, GAVI and the World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to ensure equitable access to a COVID-19 vaccine by dividing about two billion doses across 92 low-and middle-income countries.

The facility promises access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries’ population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of the year to immunise three per cent of their populations.

The COVID-19 vaccines arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport at exactly 11:45am on Tuesday.

At the airport to receive the vaccines were the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Secretary-General to the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha.

Also present were the Minister for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, the Director-General, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, and the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu among others.

NANCY ANIKA