Preparations are ongoing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the commencement of the COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria. The exercise is scheduled to kick off in the country on Friday at the National Hospital in Abuja, where the frontline health workers there will be the first set of people to be vaccinated.
This comes three days after Nigeria received the first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from COVAX, a World Health Organisation (WHO)-backed initiative set up to procure and ensure equitable distribution of vaccines for free among countries across the world.
The first shipment of 3,924,000 doses of the vaccines arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Tuesday afternoon via an Emirates airplane from India. Ahead of the distribution, the Federal Government had said the vaccines would be administered in the order of priority, with the frontline health workers on the top of the list.
It noted that it would also consider the elderly and the strategic leaders in the country – such as the President and other key public office holders in the country.
