Lagos, Kano and Kaduna states are leading with the highest number of people vaccinated for COVID-19 as Nigeria vaccinated 1,133,325 people with a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine as of yesterday.
However, even as many Nigerians were hesitant about the vaccination, fresh facts have emerged that the Oxford -AstraZeneca COVID vaccine facilitated through support from the COVAX facility to the federal government will expire by July 9, 2021.
An update on the ongoing vaccination across the country, released by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), showed that on the whole, vaccination in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has progressed to 56.3 per cent.
The statistics showed that Lagos State is still leading in the number of persons vaccinated with 218,174, followed by Kano, 59,040 and Kaduna with 58,026.
The vaccination figures showed that Abia has 11,163; Adamawa, 20,446; Akwa Ibom, 12,729 ; Anambra, 11,755,; Bauchi, 36,458; Bayelsa, 10,751; Benue, 22,727; Borno, 22,081; Cross River, 15,710,; Delta, 21,859; Ebonyi, 9,567; Edo, 29,685; Ekiti, 23,434,; Enugu, 13,076; FCT, 52,348; Gombe, 27,354; Imo, 19,803; Jigawa, 28,901; Kaduna, 58,026; Kano, 59,040; Katsina, 39,646; Kebbi, 16,146 and Kogi, 12,040
Others are: Kwara, 31,260; Nasarawa, 17,927; Niger, 27,449; Ogun, 53,314; Ondo, 31,579; Osun, 21,387; Oyo, 40,122; Plateau, 28,922; Rivers, 29,926; Sokoto, 11,975; Taraba, 9,335; Yobe, 21,123 and Zamfara, 16,088.
Meanwhile, fresh facts have emerged that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine facilitated through support from the COVAX facility to the federal government will expire by July 9, 2021.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the state had concluded the first half of phase one of the vaccination campaign, in line with the directive of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).
Abayomi said the conclusion of the first phase, which took an average of 20 days, followed the federal government’s directive to stop vaccination once half of the consignment has been administered so that those who received the first dose would have an opportunity for the second dose
‘’The remaining doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have been reserved at the Lagos State Cold Chain Store for the second dose exercise, which will commence on May 28, 2021, following the expiration of the eight-12 weeks interval as required by the manufacturers. Residents are encouraged to check their vaccination cards for their next appointment dates and where possible to try to go to the same health facilities where they got the initial dose for their second dose.
‘’There is no need for citizens who have received the first dose to pre-register before going to the health facility for the second dose because their already captured details will only be updated with additional information after vaccination. The vaccines are due to expire on July 9, 2021.
Our monitoring and evaluation quality assurance activity indicates that our cold chain distribution logistics has been maintained ensuring the integrity of the vaccines,’’ he stated.
According to him, the state inoculated 257,756 persons, as of April 15.
He gave the profile of those vaccinated to comprise health workers, frontline workers including; security agents, ports of entry staff, judiciary, petrol station workers, contingency workers and strategic leaders.
“The government went a step further to vaccinate willing pensioners, people aged 70 and above, teachers and journalists during the same period. Lagos is the only state that has inoculated more than 200,000 residents during this period,’’ he said.
According to him, the remaining doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine have been reserved at the Lagos State Cold chain store for the second vaccination phase expected to commence on May 28, following the expiration of the eight-12 weeks interval as required by the manufacturers.
Abayomi added that few of the persons vaccinated experienced what is termed Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) or Adverse Event of Special Interest (AESI) characterised by pain at the injection site, fever or body pains lasting 24 to 48 hours and anaphylactic shock.
“We are being extremely diligent for blood coagulation disorders in view of the prevailing international scientific attention to the possibility of increased risk of developing blood clotting disorders and two cases are being investigated. It is important in the interest of scientific knowledge to be able to attribute any blood clotting problems directly to the administration of the vaccine,” he said