Less than a month after Nigeria commenced vaccination of its citizens against the COVID-19 virus, over 560,000 people have received the first dose of the vaccine.
As at Monday evening, 566,917 eligible Nigerians have been vaccinated, according to an update by National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The agency said the COVID-19 vaccination has commenced in all states across the country except for Kogi which is yet to receive doses for the vaccines.
Read Also: All States Except Kogi Have Taken Delivery Of COVID-19 Vaccine – NPHCDA
Kogi was not supplied with the vaccines because their cold store is still under repairs following vandalisation during #EndSARS protest, the NPHCDA head, Faisal Shuaib, said at a briefing.
However, the agency in a statement on Monday said Mr Shuaib met with Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to resolve issues around vaccine storage and provision of security at the Cold Store.
Data published by the agency shows that Lagos, the epicentre of the disease in Nigeria, has vaccinated 112,326 people; making it the highest in the country.
This is followed by Ogun with 48,983, Kaduna-40,243, Bauchi- 32,893, Katsina- 32,628, and Kwara- 27,509.
The states with the lowest number of vaccinated people are Abia-95 and Taraba – 413.
Having received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines in early March, Nigeria commenced vaccination beginning with healthcare workers.
The country recently received another 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from telecom giant, MTN, as part of the latter’s contribution to Africa.
The government had announced its plan to vaccinate 109 million people against the COVID-19 virus over a period of two years.
Health authorities said only eligible population from 18 years and above will be vaccinated in different phases.
Although there has been controversy over the safety of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine which prompted some countries to suspend its use, Nigeria has chosen to continue the rollout of the vaccines, saying it is safe for use.
World Health Organisation and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have also declared the vaccine safe.
EMA said it would continue to study possible links between very rare blood clots and the vaccine.
No Nigerian has declared any serious side effect from taking the vaccine, Mr Shuaib said.
As at Monday night, Nigeria has recorded 162,641 COVID-19 cases and 2,049 deaths, according to an update published by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
