Nigeria will receive 7.7 million doses of China’s Sinopharm 1099.HK vaccine against COVID-19, the head of the country’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said on Tuesday.
According to Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NPHCDA, Nigeria recently approved the Sinopharm vaccine for use in the country.
He added that Africa’s most populous nation will receive the 7.7 million doses through the COVAX scheme aimed at providing vaccines to developing countries.
Shuaib, however, did not say when the Sinopharm doses would arrive or be administered.
The country has vaccinated only a small fraction of its 200 million population, largely due to shortages of vaccines. About 2 million people, or 1% of the overall population, have received a vaccine dose thus far, while less than 1 million have received two.
The second phase of the vaccine rollout began on August 16 after supplies ran out in the first phase on July 9.
For the first phase, Nigeria utilised doses of AstraZeneca vaccine obtained from COVAX. Since then, the Moderna vaccine has been donated by the United States, which is being used for the second phase.
Johnson & Johnson shots purchased by Nigeria via an African Union scheme are also expected to be used.
Nigeria has recorded 187,588 cases of COVID-19 and 2,276 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to official data, although the figures could be much higher given that only 2.7 million samples have been tested.
