Nigeria Receives 177,600 Doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The federal government on Thursday took delivery of 177,600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine procured through the African Union collaborative venture with the Afreximbank.

Speaking while receiving the first batch of the vaccine from the AU brokered facility meant for Nigeria, the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be strategically deployed to cover areas that have difficult terrains and where health officials will only need to visit once to administer the one dose vaccine.

He said that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be part of the vaccines to be administered starting from Monday, next week throughout the country.

The Director of the African Centre for Disease Control, Ahmadu Cisse, who witnessed the delivery of the vaccine at the NPHCDA Cold Chain Store located near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, said that the delivery was part of the 400 million doses expected to be delivered to Africa under the AU facility.

He said: “As Africa CDC, we are proud and grateful to be part of this momentous occasion and to represent our partners in the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.”

He said that African Export-Import Bank and its President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, made the agreement for these vaccines with Johnson and Johnson possible through a USD 2 billion financing facility.

“Afreximbank is also the financial and transaction adviser, guarantor, instalment payment facility provider and payment agent for the member states.

“The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Dr Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of UNECA coordinated regular technical meetings of the African Ministers of Finance to make today possible,” he said.

In his remarks, the Country Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Walter Mulombo, described the arrival of the vaccine as a milestone for Africa, stating that the success of the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccines has shown what Africa can achieve through a united effort.

Details later…