Nigeria takes delivery of its first batch of AstraZeneca/Oxford Coronavirus vaccine today, Tuesday, 2nd March, 2021, making it the third West African country to achieve this milestone success, just behind Ghana and Ivory Coast.
As gathered by GhanaTalksRadio, Nigeria received four million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility in a partnership between CEVA, Gavi, UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
The vaccines are said to have arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport, Abuja around noon on Tuesday, onboard an Emirates Airline.
The first doses of the vaccine will be give to President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and other prominent Nigerians on live television, on Saturday.
Over the coming months, Nigeria expects 16 million doses from COVAX, a facility for poor and middle-income countries co-led by Gavi, the vaccine alliance, and the World Health Organization, with UNICEF as an implementing partner.
Nigeria aims to inoculate 40% of its population this year and 30% more in 2022. As of Monday, it had recorded 155,657 confirmed cases and 1,907 deaths.
