By John Ikani
The Federal Government has received four million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine donated by the United States (US) government.
The doses, which arrived on two planes on Sunday, were received by UNICEF officials on behalf of Nigeria at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
It was the second batch of vaccines to arrive in the country after the initial four million doses were delivered in March under the COVAX arrangement.
COVAX was set up to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to low-income countries, and has already delivered more than 80 million doses to 129 territories.
Confirming the arrival of the vaccine, the Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Faisal Shuaib said, “We are excited that this will be another opportunity for us to advance the protection of Nigerians against the COVID-19 virus, especially the Delta variant.”
He said the federal government had been expecting to receive the vaccines for a long time.
Shuaib also said that the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 obtained approval to procure 60 ultra-cold chain units, even when there was no clue that the country was going to receive either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, adding that the installation of the ultra-cold chain equipment had commenced across the country in order to keep the vaccines at the right temperature.
On the administration of the vaccine, Shuaib said it could commence as soon as next week.
What you should know
Nigeria has since exhausted the four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to kick off its nationwide inoculation programme.
The Moderna vaccine received on Sunday, is mRNA type of vaccine manufactured and developed by Moderna, NIAID. Two shots of the vaccine are administered through intramuscular injection, 28 days apart.
The Moderna vaccine has been listed for emergency use by the World Health Organisation, WHO, and approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as safe and effective based on data from large-scale clinical trials.
