Geneva July 7, 2022: Last week, Nigeria surpassed the 10 percent (of total population) fully vaccinated Covid-19 vaccination milestone – commendable progress in curbing vaccine inequity and protecting lives. The milestone is a result of continued efforts by the government and stakeholders in rolling out relevant strategies to sustain COVID-19 vaccination amidst competing health priorities.
Nigeria started COVID-19 vaccination on March 5, 2021, upon receiving 4 million vaccine doses from the COVAX Facility, to protect frontline workers and elderly people with chronic health conditions.
COVAX is the major supplier of COVID-19 vaccines to Nigeria and the African continent.
The country’s vaccination efforts have been characterized by several strategies undertaken in partnership with stakeholders – including campaigns for awareness, mass vaccination sites, incorporating COVID-19 vaccination in routine immunisation campaigns as well as innovative approaches such as introduction of a vaccination sites finder app.
Thanks to the efforts by Federal Ministry of Health and partners, the country has strengthened health systems over recent years allowing for gradual increase in COVID-19 vaccination while at the same time maintaining routine immunization as part of the Optimized SCALES 2.0 strategy.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) recently launched the SCALES 3.0 strategy to further increase coverage going forward through additional campaigns, including integrated campaigns with other vaccines.
Dr. Richard Mihigo, Director of COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery, Coordination and Integration at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX, comments on Nigeria’s progress:
“Nigeria has surpassed 10% of its population with two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. This milestone is hugely significant given the size of the country, population and competing health priorities including routine immunization.”
The Optimized SCALES 2.0 strategy has been key to ensuring rapid and sustainable improvement in routine immunization coverage and integration of COVID-19 vaccination. The country has also increased number of vaccination and immunization sites across the country as well as included private health facilities in vaccine rollout.
“Through the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO, along with partners such as the African Union and World Bank are providing coordinated, tailored support to governments focusing on urgently overcoming delivery bottlenecks to turn vaccines into vaccinations. COVAX will continue to support efforts in Nigeria and across the continent – with enough supply available, we must seize this opportunity to achieve vaccine equity. We congratulate the country for the commitment and innovation and look forward to continue working together to protect people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from COVID-19.”
Source: WHO COVID-19 Dashboard