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National Primary Health Care Development Agency

COVID-19 Vaccination: FG Integrates Mass campaign with Childhood Immunization

by Folarin Kehinde January 25, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

The Federal Government has disclosed that plans are underway way to integrates mass COVID-19 campaign with the childhood immunization and other Primary Health Care(PHC) services.

It said this is to ensure that while government is trying so hard to control the transmission of COVID-19, it does not neglect other PHC services or even have outbreaks of childhood vaccine preventable diseases at hands.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency(NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib at the media briefing on Progress of COVID-19 Vaccination in Nigeria on Tuesday said that alongside the COVID-19 vaccines, childhood vaccines will also be available at COVID-19 vaccination sites

Faisal therefore urged parents or guardians with children aged zero to 23 months to take them along to the vaccination sites as he maintained that the childhood vaccines protect infants against polio, whooping cough, measles, yellow fever, tetanus, tuberculosis, and other childhood preventable diseases.

“We urge you to please tell your colleagues, friends and loved ones to go to the vaccination sites or health centres nearest to them with their zero to 23 months old children for vaccination against COVID-19 and childhood vaccine-preventable diseases”.

“We call on Nigerians to avail themselves of the opportunity in the on-going mass vaccination exercise to get vaccinated against COVID-19”.

Shuaib further disclosed that as of today, Tuesday January 25th 2022, records shows that 14,093,873 eligible persons have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria while 5,252,406 eligible Nigerians have been fully vaccinated.

“However, as one would expect, these results are not evenly distributed across the states of the Federation. Our deep dive into state performances reveals that Nasarawa, Jigawa, FCT, Ogun and Kwara have remained the top 5 performing states on COVID-19 vaccine uptake”.

“It is noteworthy to mention that Jigawa and Lagos have each vaccinated about 1.5million eligible Nigerians with the first dose, while FCT, Nasarawa, Lagos and Delta are leading on second dose administration with more than 10% of eligible populations in each of the states already vaccinated.

“It is in our spirit of transparency and accountability that we consider it important to keep Nigerians informed about the progress of COVID-19 vaccination in the states”.

“We also believe that this information will serve as an encouragement for the states in the vaccine uptake, going forward”.

Shuaib also seeks State Governors supports particularly those on low performance prayed that Governors should charge them with the responsibility of ensuring that the populace within their constituencies are duly vaccinated”.

“The Governor should charge the LGA Chairmen and health teams to develop a daily, weekly and monthly Covid-19 and Childhood vaccination targets based on the total eligible populations”.

“The Governor can meet with the LGA Chairmen and health teams on a weekly basis, to review the results of the campaigns and confirm if these targets are being met. This can also be an agenda on the weekly State Executive Council meetings”.

“The Governor can apply accountability mechanisms to the vaccination process by publically rewarding LGA teams that perform the highest and sanctions teams that do not meet the minimum requirements despite the supports”.

“This can be done in a fortnightly ceremony where the Governor shakes the best performers and issue certificates or plaques of excellence”.

“We understand the challenges of undue vaccine hesitancy in the country, we strongly believe that a more committed approach to implementing mass vaccination will lead to improved vaccine uptake”.

“This is why our current vaccination phase emphasizes state supervision support to ramp up vaccine uptake especially in low performing states”.

“We want to acknowledge the strong leadership displayed by many Governors in ensuring that their citizens are vaccinated and encourage them to do even more, so we can further improve our vaccination coverage”.

“Last year, the daily Covid-19 vaccination coverage was about 100,000 people per day. Between December 2021 and January 2022, we have more than doubled this vaccination rate to over 200,000 per day”.

“With the talents and capabilities of Nigerians, I know we can do better and we must improve to we protect all Nigerians”.

“It is pertinent to reiterate the fact that till date, Nigeria has not recorded any death arising from COVID-19 vaccination. This should further serve to convince everyone that COVID-19 vaccines are safe”.

“Let me therefore remind all Nigerians, that the second and booster doses are critical to achieving high protection against the virus especially as it keeps mutating”.

“Nigeria introduced booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the 10th of December 2021, following the recommendation by WHO for people who have received two doses of AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer Bio-N-Tech or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

“In line with his exemplary leadership style, President Muhammadu Buhari received his booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday the 21st of December 2021. So far, 416,980 Nigerians have received their booster dose. This is a clear indication that many more Nigerians are determined to achieve maximum protection against COVID-19”.

“Our Joint Task Force on COVID-19 vaccine monitoring and accountability is still very active and vigilant. The Federal Government is on alert for any report of card vending and other unlawful activities on COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, we urge everyone to remain law-abiding and compliant with recommended safety measures on COVID-19”.

“It is our hope that the year 2022 represents the exit and recovery of Nigeria and the rest of the world from COVID-19”.

January 25, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

Nigeria Destroys Over 1 Million Doses Of Expired Astrazeneca Vaccines

by Folarin Kehinde December 22, 2021

written by Folarin Kehinde

The Federal Government on Wednesday destroyed over 1m doses of Astrazeneca vaccines donated to combat COVID-19.

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, led the destruction at Gosa Dumpsite, about 2km from the Idu Railway Station, Abuja.

“We withdrew about 1,066,214, doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines from across the country,” he said

Nigeria joined other African countries, like Malawi, South Sudan, Liberia, Mauritania, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Comoros, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in destroying the expired COVID-19 vaccines.

“As you can see these vaccines have now been deposited by the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency.

“We have come through in our promise to all Nigerians to be transparent in our delivery of vaccines.

“These vaccines did not expire before we took the decision to withdraw them. Today is an opportunity for Nigerians to have further faith in our vaccination programme.

“We worked with our sister agency, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), who took that decision to destroy these vaccines at the point that they got expired.

“The work that we do is the work that requires trust. It is a sacred trust that has been bestowed on us by the generalizing generality of Nigerians and hold that trust to be true,” he added.

He noted that the heroes of today’s activity were actually the frontline health workers.

“A few months ago, when these vaccines were offered to us, we knew that they had a short shelf life. But we were living in an environment where the supply of COVID-19 vaccines were very scarce.

“They were not available due to vaccine nationalism. Some developed countries that procured these vaccines, hoarded them in their stores,” he said.

He commended members of staff of the NPHCDA who worked Saturdays or Sundays on very extreme situations to make sure that Nigerians have access to vaccines.

“We were able to vaccinate over 10 million Nigerians.

“So, my heart and my pride go out to those frontline health workers that continue to work around the clock.

“We still have short shelf life vaccines in the country. They are still potent.

“They have not reached the end of use dates and the health workers are still going around every communities and settlement to ensure Nigerians are vaccinated.

“This decision has saved Nigeria over 40 million dollars,” he added.

Also speaking, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Mojisola Adeyeye, noted that Nigeria was the only country with a unique immunization programme.

“Nigeria has one of the best vaccination immunization program in the world. UNICEF mentioned this last year. But we started this journey months before the vaccines came.

“In terms of what we are witnessing today. It is a continuous unfolding of the fact that the best is for all Nigerians, because Nigerians deserve the best in terms of quality of medicines, vaccines,” she said.

Adeyeye added that this was the basis of the endless meetings between NPHCDA and NAFDAC. Noting that when NAFDAC approved a vaccine it means that what the agency had seen on paper was the package of the history of the vaccine development.

“We have been working night and day together. And what he said about the vaccines coming with short expiration dates pose a challenge to us as a country.

“But because of the love of the country we decided to walk with that tight timespan or challenge,” she added.

She noted that NAFDAC was the only regulatory agency in Africa that tests the subjects the vaccines test.

Malawi was the first country to publicly destroy vaccine doses in May.

The African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team shipped over 900,000 doses AstraZeneca vaccine to 13 African nations through donations.

But, the Serum institute of India, which manufactured these doses, extended the shelf-life to July 13, there wasconfusion in the expiration dates.

This Countries have also faced challenges planning and funding for in-country rollouts, as well as vaccine hesitancy, which has made it difficult for countries to quickly administer the jabs into the arms of citizens.

December 22, 2021 0 comments

Headlines

FG to borrow N82 billion to buy Mosquito Nets

by Folarin Kehinde October 27, 2021

written by Folarin Kehinde

The Ministry of Health has submitted a 2022 budget proposal to the Senate to borrow N82 billion ($200 million) to buy mosquito nets.

The proposal is captured in the ministry’s Malaria Programme, according to its Permanent Secretary, Mahmuda Mamman, who defended it before the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.

The official said the fund would be used to medically fight malaria in 13 states.

The coverage is expected to spread across 3,536 primary health care centres in 208 local government councils.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, further clarified to the committee that the loan covers the importation and local production of mosquito nets.

The Senate Committee expressed strong reservations about the proposal, dismissing it as another money-making scheme that will only benefit creditors.

“Don’t we have local manufacturers of mosquitoes nets and malaria drugs in Nigeria to patronise with the loan?” Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe queried the officials.

Nigeria recorded the highest number of malaria cases (27%), and highest number of malaria deaths (23%) in the world in 2019, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report.

The WHO recently recommended the widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine to specifically fight high P. falciparum malaria transmission.

The P. falciparum is the most deadly malaria parasite globally, and most prevalent in Africa where it kills more than 260,000 children under the age of five annually, with Nigeria one of the worst affected.

WHO’s recommendation is based on results from an ongoing pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi that has reached more than 800,000 children, with more than 2.3 million doses administered, since 2019.

RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine is to be provided in a schedule of four doses in children from five months of age for the reduction of malaria disease and burden.

October 27, 2021 0 comments

Headlines

Covid-19: FG Takes Vaccination Exercise To Private, Govt Offices

by Folarin Kehinde September 7, 2021

written by Folarin Kehinde

The Federal Government has introduced a special vaccination exercise that will enable members of staff and retirees of public and private sector firms to be vaccinated in their office premises.

This was disclosed by the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to him, the platform was created in pursuant of the government’s mandate of making vaccination compulsory for all civil servants, as well as in recognition of the fact that some workers may find it difficult to leave their duty post to vaccination sites.

“We have introduced and expanded in-situ corporate vaccination. This entails making special arrangement for eligible staff, dependents and retirees of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs) and the private sector to get vaccinated in their office premises.

“MDAs, public and private corporate organization that require staff to be vaccinated should visit www.nphcda.gov.ng to fill the request form. These services would be provided at no cost to the Ministries, agency/cooperate bodies,” he said.

Shuaib, speaking further disclosed that Nigeria has been categorized as an ‘amber’ country by the government of United kingdom based on the number of populations immunized and incidence rates of COVID-19 infection.

Travellers from Amber’s countries, according to him are placed under compulsory isolation by the UK government, whether or not such has been vaccinated.

He said, “We have been inundated with questions about why the UK insists Nigerians who have been fully vaccinated are still required to isolate upon arrival in the UK.

“Nigeria alongside countries like France and the Netherlands are listed as amber countries by the UK Government based on criteria such as the number of populations immunized and incidence rates of COVID-19 infection.

“Individuals from Countries listed as amber countries are required by the UK Government to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival and be quarantined for a few days,” he said.

He also noted that here has been report of cases where individuals contracted the virus 14 days after being fully vaccinated.

This according to him, is termed breakthrough infection.

“The observation is that in these individuals, the disease is usually milder than those who were unvaccinated. Vaccination prevents one from severe disease, hospitalization and death.

“If our communities continue to remain unvaccinated, we will keep endangering our citizens most especially those who are vulnerable, ” he said.

According to the Agency, as of 6th September 2021, a total of 3,600,858 Nigerians have received their 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

This is made up of 2,551,738 persons vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine and 1,049,120 persons vaccinated with Moderna vaccine, bringing the total number of persons vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine to 1,576,011.

September 7, 2021 0 comments

Headlines

Over 70 Nigerians missed Pilgrimage Due To COVID-19 Test Results

by Folarin Kehinde September 3, 2021

written by Folarin Kehinde

Over 70 pilgrims have been denied pilgrimage to Jordan due to late release of COVID-19 test results.

This is coming shortly after the National Primary Health Care Development Agency warned that Holy cities such as Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem have made it mandatory for pilgrims to provide proof of vaccination before they can be granted access for pilgrimage.

The Executive Director, Faisal Shuaib on Tuesday had disclosed that many countries have made vaccination a requirement to gain access to their country as the COVID-19 vaccines have become available worldwide.

He said, “I would like to remind all Nigerians that evidence of vaccination against COVID-19 is now mandatory for all pilgrims to the holy cities of Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem.

“I therefore urge adherents of both religions who are planning to perform pilgrimage next year or in the future, to get vaccinated now to avoid any delays.”

However, the Delta State Government on Friday decried the decision of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission to centralise COVID-19 tests for intending pilgrims in the state, as 77 pilgrims from the state were not airlifted.

The State government through the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, said that the centralised COVID-19 test as directed by the NCPC had caused untold hardship to the intending pilgrims.

“Because of in the haphazard release of the test results, 77 of them were not airlifted to Jordan.

“It was disappointing for the intending pilgrims especially as the State had accredited centres to carry out the COVID-19 test in the state,” he said.

According to him, a total of 315 Deltans were supposed to have been airlifted to Jordan from the Port Harcourt International Airport.

He said 223 eventually travelled as 15 reportedly tested positive for the virus and 77 could not travel due to late release of their results.

September 3, 2021 0 comments