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COVID-19: Nigeria to Vaccinate 109m Citizens in Two Years – Official
The Nigerian government has disclosed plans to vaccinate approximately 109 million people against COVID-19 over a period of two years.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, while speaking at Monday’s weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said only those eligible will be vaccinated.
He said the federal government plans to vaccinate all eligible population from 18 years and above, including pregnant women.
He, however, said the decision to vaccinate any pregnant woman will be made in consultation with her healthcare provider.
He said there will be considerations of whether she is at high risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus or not, based on guidance from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE).
“She is likely to be at high risk for example, if she is a frontline health worker, a support staff or a first responder in the different spheres of the security architecture of our country,” Mr Shuaib said.
“After excluding those that are under 18 years old, we plan to vaccinate approximately 109 million Nigerians that will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination over the course of two years.”
The Nigerian government is expected to begin the roll-out of approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of February.
The country is expecting an initial 16 million doses of the Oxford- AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines through the Vaccines Global Assess Facility (COVAX) by the end of February.
An additional 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines donated by telecom giant, MTN, will also be delivered to the country by the end of February, the minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, said at the briefing.
Mr Ehanire said efforts are ongoing to ensure the effective roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines when they finally arrive.
He said the Vaccine Coordination Committee has been inaugurated to address diverse issues peculiar to COVID-19 vaccine acquisition by Nigeria.
“Their function is to advise on coordinating access to acquisition and distribution of vaccines when available, and on our immunization strategy.”
Mr Shuaib explained that those eligible to receive the vaccines have been identified using the World Health Organization(WHO) vaccine allocation framework and prioritization roadmap, as well as data from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
“They are the frontline healthcare workers, support staff; including those that work in high-risk areas such as point of entry workers, rapid response teams, contact tracing teams, COVID-19 vaccination teams and strategic leadership,” Mr Shuaib said.
“People aged 50 years and above, People aged 18 – 49 years with significant co-morbidities and additional at-risk groups.”
Mr Shuaib said the Technical Working Group has developed a strategy of pre-registration and scheduling the target population to avoid over-crowding at vaccination posts.
He said the strategy called the TEACH approach will harness all the benefits of traditional, electronic, assisted and concomitant house-to-house registration to optimize the use of innovative technology.
“The TEACH approach entails: T: Traditional method of vaccinating target populations using desk review of available data sources, identifying the vaccination sites and rolling out.
“E: Electronic self-registration for health workers and the public; a link which provides an online form will be provided. A: Assisted electronic registration
“C: Concomitant e-registration during walk in to fixed sites/health facilities. H: House-to-House registration using volunteers for additional push to rapidly increase the e-registration,” he said.
He noted that a URL link will be rolled out this week for healthcare workers, to register and schedule them for the COVID-19 vaccination.
He said plans are ongoing to train and empower health care workers on administering these vaccines.
He explained that his agency will engage additional personnel in a bid to achieve the coverage level desired and also to ensure best practices in vaccine handling and management.
“The plan is to train healthcare workers, supervisors and monitors at all levels in the next one to two weeks,” Mr Shuaib said.
Premium Times
Source: Reuters
Arise Television anchor, Rufai Oseni, has alleged that there may be attempts to prevent key opposition figures, including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, from appearing on the ballot for the 2027 general elections.
Oseni’s remark followed a Federal High Court judgment ordering the de-registration of some political parties.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples’ Party (APP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Action Alliance Party (AAP) over alleged constitutional breaches.
The judgment arose from a lawsuit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional and statutory electoral performance requirements necessary for continued recognition as political parties.
Justice Lifu subsequently barred INEC from recognising the affected parties, accepting nominations from them or permitting them to participate in activities related to the 2027 general elections.
The ruling, if upheld, could affect the political ambitions of several politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is the ADC presidential flag-bearer, and Osun State governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party.
But speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Oseni described the court ruling as a “test” of public reaction, warning that more actions could follow ahead of the next general election.
According to him, opposition parties such as the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, should be cautious, claiming that efforts could be made to stop major figures from participating in the election.
Oseni argued that the judgment was part of a broader process aimed at shaping the political landscape ahead of 2027.
He maintained that the ruling came despite some of the affected parties having recorded electoral victories in recent elections.
He warned that Nigerians must remain vigilant to safeguard the country’s democracy, stressing the need for judicial reforms alongside efforts to tackle insecurity.
Oseni said: “NDC, ADC should be careful because there will be attempt, and this is me predicting now, to ensure that Obi, Atiku and other big contenders are not on the ballot.
“This that you saw yesterday is just a test. This is not the real place where the whole thing is going. This is me predicting now.
“You know before you have a show you test the microphone. They want to see the reactions of Nigerians. More is still coming.
“You can see how they carry a judgement when ADC won two House of Representatives seats in Kogi, one Kogi House of Assembly seat, APP one chairmanship seat in Jigawa, Zenith Labour party won several seats in Abia, but they still went ahead and issued judgement for deregistration after the Court of Appeal, a higher court, said it should stay on that.
“If we want to deal with this judicial rascality, can I tell you something? The judge that gave this judgment, nothing will happen to him. Nothing on this earth. They are just coming.
“And who is leading this group? Gbajabiamila. Have you forgotten what Gbajabiamila said on Hon Ajibade’s birthday? So they are just coming. This one is just a test. The next one they will do is the NDC.
“With the way they’re going, if Nigerians don’t shine their eyes when they will finally have this election, you will not have the major contenders in the ballot. This thing they have just done is to test reactions from Nigerians.
“I saw this thing coming. You know we are going into an election in which Atiku Abubakar is the only major candidate from the North. It’s not like the last one you have Kwankwaso that can split the Kano votes. And you have Peter Obi and general consensus that a lot of people are in abject penury, insecurity is raging hard.
“This is the beginning of many things. They are just testing the microphone. It’s engineered. More is coming. Nigerians, it is you that will save your democracy. Judicial reforms have become so important as insecurity in Nigeria.”
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has picked former Rivers State Governor and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate.
Announcing the decision, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said Amaechi’s emergence followed broad consultations within the party and reflected his strong performance as runner-up in the party’s presidential primaries as well as his track records of service to his state and the country.
According to the ADC, Amaechi’s extensive experience across both the legislative and executive arms of government, as former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor of Rivers State, and former Minister of Transportation, makes him uniquely qualified to complement Atiku’s leadership, strengthen the party’s national appeal, and bolster its campaign to offer Nigerians an experienced and credible alternative ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The party said the choice of Amaechi underscores its commitment to presenting a leadership team with proven governance experience and national appeal as it prepares for the 2027 presidential contest.
ThisDay
