The Federal Government of Nigeria on Thursday took delivery of 177,600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
The single-shot J&J vaccine was acquired through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), with support from Afrexim bank.
According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control, the vaccines were partly manufactured in Africa.
The vaccines are expected to be deployed in hard-to-reach areas, to eliminate the need for travel for a second dose.
Nigeria’s Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire disclosed that the country has procured nearly 40 million doses of the vaccine through AVAT and more of the J&J vaccines are still expected in the country.
Nigeria is expected to step up its Covid vaccination program after receiving over four million doses of the Moderna vaccine from the US government last week.
So far, only about one percent of the population has been vaccinated, so far.
The second phase of the national vaccination programme is expected to kick off next Monday.