Vaccination: Nigeria Far From Achieving 70% COVID-19 Vaccination Target

The federal government has expressed its concerns regarding Nigeria’s COVID-19 vaccination statistics, saying that the country was far from achieving the target of vaccinating 70 percent of its eligible population.

On Monday, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the Executive director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), had stated this during a ministerial press briefing in Abuja and said that 21,236,404 eligible Nigerians were fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to him, this figure (21,236,404) represents 19.05 per cent of the 111,776,503 eligible population that was targeted for the entire vaccination cycle.

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While being represented by Dr. Abdullahi Garba, Dr. Shuaib emphasised on the need for more aggressive actions in order to fast-track the process towards achieving herd immunity.

“As at June 19, of the 111,776,503 eligible Nigerian residents targeted for the entire vaccination cycle, a total of 21,236,404 people were fully vaccinated with different mix of COVID-19 vaccines, while 28,426,564 people were partially vaccinated indicating 19.05 and 25.4 per cent respectively.”

However, he also said that the Agency was adopting strategies in order to achieve its objective which include the concept of service integration, where COVID-19 vaccines are given along with other high-impact health interventions like routine immunsation.

As he gave updates on Monkeypox infection in the country, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said that as of the 19th of June, the country had recorded 41 confirmed cases and one death.