According to Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Nigeria has not yet achieved the year-end worldwide vaccination target of 70% target coverage with the COVID-19 vaccinations.
Shuaib disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Abuja.
“We are 21.6 million eligible persons away from reaching its target of fully vaccinating 70 per cent of its eligible population by December 2022.
“But 62 per cent of the country’s eligible population is at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19.
“As at Nov. 25, 56,790,371, total eligible persons targeted for COVID-19 vaccination are fully vaccinated while 12,492,646 of total eligible persons targeted for COVID-19 vaccination are partially vaccinated in 36 States and the FCT.
“The country has fully vaccinated half of the total population eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.
“We have also fully vaccinated an additional over 25 per cent of its eligible population, in the last 110 days of SCALES 3.0 implementation,” he said.
According to the head of the NPHCDA, 13.2% of the nation’s completely immunised residents have received the COVID-19 booster shot for further virus defence.
He praised the COVID-19 Strategy Group for getting the nation’s vaccination rate up to 50%. While thanking the team’s persistent efforts for the success.
According to Shuaib, he has also instructed the team to step up efforts in order to reach at least 70% of the country’s target population for COVID-19 herd immunity.
He also praised Nigeria for the accomplishment and vowed to keep up the momentum.
The head of the NPHCDA stated that the country’s objective is still to reach 70% of the targeted population.
“Until this is achieved, the strategy group will continue to develop strategies that will help the country achieve health security,” he said.
As of November 19, the country had 266,283 confirmed infections, 259,640 discharged patients, and 3,155 deaths since the start of the pandemic in February 2020. However, in the past nine days, no new COVID-19 infections have been reported.
The number of new COVID-19 cases in the nation has steadily decreased over the past six months, as has the country’s importation of COVID-19 infections from other nations.
These are the indices: the country has not registered any deaths in the last 46 days; hospitalisation has also consistently decreased.
Public health experts have cautioned that it is still too early to feel positive despite the fact that the most recent COVID-19 waves in China have identified more transmissible but less deadly coronavirus subtypes.
The number of infections in the current outbreak reached a record high of 40,052 on Monday, with 36,304 still lacking symptoms, just days after China lifted some zero-COVID-19 policies.
As of Nov. 27, 104 cases had been classified as “serious,” and seven deaths had been reported. All of the deceased patients were above 80 and had concomitant conditions.
Epidemiologists warn that waves run the risk of taxing the health system, so if China were to change its approach, it should invest more money in vaccination and community outreach rather than mass testing.
Public health authorities in Nigeria have recommended that the COVID-19 Presidential Steering Committee tighten the nation’s regulations for testing of foreign arrivals at all airports and land borders.
