By Deborah Onyofufeke
The government of Italy on Monday, made a donation of 3M doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines to Nigeria in addition to the 17 million vaccines earlier sent by the European Union, EU, member states, making it a total number of 20 million vaccines Nigeria has gotten from the EU member states
Which amounts to 61 per cent of all donated vaccines received by Nigeria, through the COVAX facility.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, through its Executive Director, Dr Faisal Shuaib, received the 3 million single-shot vaccines on behalf of the federal government, at the agency’s head office, in Abuja.
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The Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Stefano De Leo, speaking at the handover event, stated that the government of Italy is committed to global vaccine coverage
“Italy remains committed, along with other European Union members, to support Nigeria’s vaccine needs, with the aim to help to expand global vaccine coverage,” the Italian ambassador said, noting that, “Providing single-shot vaccines reduces logistical challenges and ensures a faster achievement of Nigeria’s Government vaccination goals.”
Ambassador De Leo, explained the efficiency of working through multilateral platforms, while he said Team Europe had pledged to donate 700 million doses of Vaccines worldwide by mid-2022.
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, recalled that in February, 2022,” the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Health and NPHCDA formally rolled out the administration of J&J vaccine across the country”,
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He appreciated the Government of Italy for their donations, stating that they were in “line with the global call for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.”
He said “a reflection of the sincerity and commitment of the Government of Italy and European delegates to the global efforts in halting this pandemic for nations of the world to return to their normal way of life.”
He added that “these vaccines, like all other vaccines we have in-country will be judiciously utilized, as we have instituted accountability in the COVID-19 vaccination programme to ensure efficient use of all available resources.”
He also assured that there was adequate quantity of COVID-19 vaccines across all states for every eligible person in Nigeria.
” And to assure all Nigerians, our donors, and partners, that we are committed to equitable and effective COVID-19 vaccination. I therefore urge all persons aged 18 years and above including pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers to take advantage of the availability of these vaccines to get vaccinated. All COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria are free, safe, effective and protects you, your family and community against COVID-19,”he said.
He spoke further “As of today the 11th of April 2022, we have fully vaccinated 13,588,718 persons which is approximately 12.2% of our total eligible population. Meanwhile 23,012,700 Nigerians have received their first dose which represents 18% of the total eligible population. We have also intensified our technical support to the states to ramp up the vaccination coverage. We are currently supporting the states to finalize their micro plans which we believe will further strengthen accountability in the utilization and management of available resources and increase uptake based on locally acceptable methods and standards
“To ensure we fully utilize the COVID-19 vaccination programme in strengthening the primary health care system by using routine immunization as entry point, our current strategic approach for delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, known as optimized SCALES 2.0 strategy, entails the integration of COVID-19 Vaccines with our current implementation. This means that parents and caregivers with children or Wards aged zero to two years, are encouraged to bring their children along to the COVID-19 vaccination site where childhood vaccines are available. While the adult receives COVID-19 vaccines, the children are assessed for the antigen they are due for and vaccinated. Thus, making the vaccination exercise more family friendly. We believe this will further motivate eligible persons, including pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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“We are proud of the work our frontline health workers are doing. We are also proud of the work our developmental partners and donors are doing.”
Also speaking, the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria, Ambassador Samuela Isopi, said: “The EU’s action against COVID-19 does not stop at its borders. By acting together, guided by the principles of solidarity and multilateralism, COVID-19 can be defeated
She said “Today’s donation is in furtherance of Team Europe’s contribution towards a resilient and healthy population because we understand that health is central to the development of any country,”
The European Union and its Member States have made COVID-19 vaccine dose-sharing one of their priorities to ensure worldwide equitable access to safe and efficient vaccines.
The EU and its Member States are so far the biggest donor of COVID-19 vaccines in the world, having shared over 500 million doses for donation to countries around the world, via COVAX and bilaterally. Italy has pledged USD 470 million to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (Gavi COVAX AMC) and has provided additional specific funding and doses to priority countries.
