Nigeria kicks-off phase two of vaccination programme with Moderna

The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 on Monday commenced rollout of the phase two of vaccination programme with 4,000,080 Moderna vaccines doses donated by the United State of America (USA).

The phase two COVID-19 vaccination exercise, anchored by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), was kick-started at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja.

The Moderna vaccines consignment, which was brought in through COVAX, the international aid initiative that seeks to ensure global access to vaccines, is part of the 500 million doses of vaccines President Joe Biden promised to donate to global fight against COVID-19 between now and end of 2022.

The initiative is part of the collaboration between the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), COVAX, and the US government, with the African Union Member States set to receive about 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to enhance coverage across the continent and vaccinate at least 60 percent of the African population.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has granted emergency use authorisation for three COVID-19 vaccines – Moderna, AstraZeneca (from Korea) and Sputnik V.

The AstraZeneca approved is from Korea due to the stall in the procurement of AstraZeneca vaccine also known as Covishield manufactured under licence by Serum Institute of India due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The NAFDAC had previously approved AstraZeneca (India), Pfizer bioNTech and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines in February and May 2021 respectively.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the PSC, Mr. Boss Mustapha, warned against hoarding COVID-19 vaccines, especially now that the number of cases of infection are soaring.

He also commended all Nigerians, especially those who have received their full two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine during the first phase which closed in July.

He pledged the PSC will continue to monitor the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in several countries with special focus on those with high incidence rate and widespread prevalence of variants of concern.