The federal government says there are no short-shelf doses of COVID-19 vaccine donations in Nigeria.

Faisal Shuaib, National Primary Health Care Development Agency’s executive director, said this at the official handover of about 2.6 million doses of Johnson Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.

To reduce the expiration risk, Mr Shuaib said the vaccines were now promptly shipped and distributed through the COVAX and AVAT facilities.

Canadian high commissioner to Nigeria, Jamie Christoff, donated the vaccines.

Following the expiration of one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 announced that the country would no longer accept vaccines with short shelf life. The committee said such vaccines mounted undue pressure on health workers to administer them.

Mr Shuaib said donors now recognised the need to give away vaccines before expiration dates. 

“There is now better coordination, and the COVID-19 vaccines in the country are not expired nor have short shelf lives. The federal government, through the NPHCDA and other partners, has continued to ensure that the country received vaccines with a long expiration date,” he said.

He explained that 62 million vaccine doses were available in the country at the moment, adding that 40 million more were being expected.

While commending Canada for providing “the much-needed support,” Mr Shuaib noted that the donation was critical to helping the country ramp up its vaccination rollout process.

“Johnson & Johnson offers a single-dose opportunity for full vaccination, which means if you take one dose of the vaccine, you are regarded as a fully vaccinated person. However, we strongly recommend a booster dose after two months of taking the initial dose to strengthen your level of immunity against COVID-19,” he stressed. “A second dose of the vaccine serves as the booster dose.”

(NAN)