Nigeria receives over 501,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

By Adam Abu-bashal

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) – Nigeria has received 501,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to help it battle COVID-19, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency said Wednesday.

The vaccines were supplied by France and sent with the help of the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, which aims to ensure rapid and equitable access for low- and middle-income countries to vaccines.

Faisal Shuaib, director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said in a statement that the vaccines have come at a critical time in the national COVID-19 vaccination program as the country struggles with the third wave of the pandemic.

He said significant progress has been made in the country’s ongoing vaccination campaign and called on the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19

More than 5 million people in the country have been inoculated as part of a vaccination campaign launched on March 5.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in Nigeria, 206,561 people have been infected, of which 194,475 have recovered. At least 2,731 people have died from the virus.

*Writing by Merve Berker