Nigeria on Tuesday took delivery of the 3.92 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
The country will be the third West African country to take delivery under the COVAX scheme, after Ghana and Ivory Coast.
The most populous country in Africa is expected to take the delivery of additional 16 million doses from COVAX, in coming months. COVAX is a facility for poor and middle-income countries co-led by Gavi, the vaccine alliance, and the World Health Organization, with UNICEF as an implementing partner.
Nigeria’s COVID-19 confirmed cases has risen to 156,017 including 1,915 deaths, according to an update by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday night.
Here is what to know about the countries vaccination process.
Registration
On Monday, Nigeria launched an online registration portal for COVID-19 vaccinations.
“We have provided an e-registration link to enable Nigerians register for the #COVID19Vaccine themselves, obtain their pre-vaccination numbers and schedule their preferred date and time for vaccination,” National Primary Health Care Development Agency boss Faisal Shuaib said.
Shuaib said the website was launched with respect to the “T.E.A.C.H. Strategy: An Indigenous Approach to #COVID19 Vaccination in Nigeria.”
T.E.A.C.H stands for Traditional Vaccination Campaign Approach; Electronic Self-Registration by Eligible Nigerians;; Assisted Electronic Registration of Eligible Nigerians; Concomitant Vaccination alongside Electronic Registration and House-to-House Electronic Registration.
“To register for #COVID19 Vaccination, visit our website and click on ‘COVID-19 Vaccination e-registration,” National Primary Health Care Development Agency tweeted on Monday.
“Those who can’t fill the Vaccination and Electronic Management of Immunization Data (EMID) will be assisted, and for those who don’t have access to the EMID house-to-house registration will be carried out to get them on the database for vaccination using T.E.A.C.H,” Shuaib said.
Priority of vaccination
The Nigerian government has several times noted that healthcare workers and other “frontline workers” including the military, police, Nigerians at border posts, oil and gas workers, and strategic leaders would be prioritised to receive the jabs.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would be the first recipients of the vaccine. They are both expected to receive the vaccine in the open.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, who explained the rationale behind the decision said it would encourage people and let them know that the vaccine is safe.
Although Mamora did not give a specific time when President Buhari would be vaccinated.
Distribution
According to NPHCD, the vaccines would be rolled-out in four phases in the next two years.
