President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and other prominent Nigerians will be among the first set of Nigerians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on live television.
They are expected to receive the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday, March 6.
The Executive Director/CEO, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said this on Monday at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) joint national briefing on COVID-19.
DailyTrust reports that four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines will arrive in the country from India on Tuesday.
Shuaib had, on January 7, said Buhari, Vice President Osinbajo, the SGF and other prominent Nigerians would be among the first set of Nigerians to receive the vaccine.
According to him, this helps drive awareness of the virus and the vaccine administration in the country when it finally arrives.
He urged Nigerians not to be hesitant about the vaccines when they arrive.
At Monday’s briefing, Faisal said the first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 3,924,000 doses, is expected to arrive in Nigeria Tuesday, March 2 2021, at 11:10 am.
He assured Nigerians that all necessary safety and quality control measures had been put in place for the arrival, storage and successful administration of the vaccine in the country.
According to him, there will be a mini ceremony chaired by the Chairman of the PTF on COVID-19 to receive the vaccine at the VIP Protocol section, General Aviation Terminal of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He said at the end of the ceremony, to mark the vaccines’ arrival, a few vials of the vaccines would be handed over to the NAFDAC team, which they would analyse for two days (Wednesday, March 3 and Thursday, March 4).
“Further to the clearance by NAFDAC, the PTF, FMOH, NPHCDA and strategic leaders will be at the treatment centre of the National Hospital on Friday, March 5 2021, where the first vaccination site will be set up to commence the vaccination of the frontline health workers and support staff.
“These Staff would also be electronically registered in the COVID-19 vaccine database and would receive their COVID-19 vaccination card, which has a QR code that can be verified worldwide.
“On Saturday, March 6, key strategic leaders will receive the first dose of the vaccine,” Faisal said.
The NPHCDA boss said in collaboration with CACOVID; plans were on the ground for a cargo plane to transport the vaccines to the states by air.
According to him, states without a functional airport will have their vaccines transported by road using vans with fitted Cold Cabins from the nearest airport.
“The vaccines will be stored at the State Cold Stores, from where they will be transported by road to LGA Cold Stores.
“Once activities have commenced in the states, there would be strict monitoring by PTF, FMOH, NPHCDA and independent bodies such as EFCC, DSS, ICPC, and Civil Society Organisations.
“States/health facilities/health workers that are identified as defaulting from the standard protocol and guidelines for this phase of vaccination would be sanctioned,” Shuaib said.
