Sample of Moderna vaccine
The vaccination exercise was earlier scheduled to commence on Tuesday.
The Nigerian government has announced the postponement of the second phase of vaccination against the rampaging coronavirus disease.
This was contained in a short statement issued by the director of press at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Willie Bassey.
The SGF, Boss Mustapha, doubles as the chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) who has been in charge of COVID-19 issues since the outset of the pandemic in the country.
The government, however, failed to give a specific reason for the postponement, but said the decision was due to some unforeseen circumstances.
The exercise was earlier scheduled to commence on Tuesday at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja.”
The statement reads in part; “This is to announce the postponement of the national flag-off exercise of phase 11 vaccination programme earlier scheduled for Tuesday this week due to unforeseen circumstances.
“A new date will be communicated.”
Meanwhile, the cancellation of the vaccination schedule is coming amidst the rising cases of the pandemic with fatality figures also rising by the day.
The increasing cases are linked to the highly transmissible Delta variants.
As of Saturday, Nigeria has recorded 177,615 coronavirus cases and 2,185 fatalities, data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) shows.
Although the country commenced inoculation of its citizens against COVID-19 in early March, only 3,938,945 eligible persons across 36 states and FCT have so far been vaccinated.
Out of the figure, 2,534,205 people have been vaccinated for the first dose and 1,404,205 have received their second dose of the vaccine.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine with which Nigeria commenced vaccination, is given in double doses. A person is required to come back for a second shot, some weeks after taking the first jab.
However, following the exhaustion of approximately four million doses of vaccines delivered through the COVAX facility, the government announced the close of vaccination of the first batch.
COVAX is a United Nations-backed effort that promises access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries’ populations.
Citizen News NG
