Nigeria no longer among countries with least COVID-19 vaccination

Nigeria has recorded a milestone of vaccinating at least 10% of her total population. Therefore, the country is no longer the least on a global scale in immunization.

Since the delivery of four million vaccines in March 2021, no less than 10% of Nigeria’s over 200 million population has been vaccinated against the deadly infectious disease.

Although, this milestone may not be unconnected to the Federal Government’s continued efforts in rolling out relevant strategies to sustain COVID-19 vaccination amidst competing health priorities.

This development follows the recent launch of SCALES 3.0, which was designed to further improve coverage through additional campaigns, amongst others.

Dr. Richard Mihigo, the Director of COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery, Coordination and Integration at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX, stated that the 10% coverage is significant considering the country’s population.

His words: “Nigeria has surpassed 10% of its population with two doses of COVID-19 vaccines. This milestone is hugely significant given the size of the country, population and competing health priorities including routine immunization.

“The Optimized SCALES 2.0 strategy has been key to ensuring rapid and sustainable improvement in routine immunization coverage and integration of COVID-19 vaccination. The country has also increased number of vaccination and immunization sites across the country as well as included private health facilities in vaccine rollout.

“Through the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO, along with partners such as the African Union and World Bank are providing coordinated, tailored support to governments focusing on urgently overcoming delivery bottlenecks to turn vaccines into vaccinations. COVAX will continue to support efforts in Nigeria and across the continent – with enough supply available, we must seize this opportunity to achieve vaccine equity.

“We congratulate the country for the commitment and innovation and look forward to continuing working together to protect the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from COVID-19.”

It is pertinent to note that with Nigeria’s 10% vaccination, only 14 countries are still struggling below 10% immunization coverage.