The Federal Government has taken delivery of two million doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine donated by the European Union.
The handover of the vaccines was done at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Strategic Cold Store, on Monday, in Abuja.
The EU ambassador, Samuela Isopi, who presented the vaccines, said the donation was part of the EU’s commitment to jointly combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his response, the executive director of NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib, said the federal government also, in combating the pandemic, had procured over 39 million doses of the J&J vaccine, through the AFREXIM bank.
He added that about 12 million doses of this single-shot vaccine were currently in the cold store.
According to him, the J&J vaccines will be given to those who are in the hard-to-reach areas (riverine areas, desert areas, and security-compromised areas).
He said this was because the J&J vaccine required only a single dose for full vaccination, noting that by this, the health workers would be able to do what is called a ‘touch and go’ without compromising their safety.
Shuaib, however, stated that “the availability of different vaccine brands does not in any way mean that some categories of people are selected for high-quality vaccines while others are targeted for low-quality vaccines.”
