Japan donates nearly 900,000 Covid-19 vaccines to Nigeria as part of its fight against pandemic

JAPAN has donated 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to Nigeria through the Vaccines Global Assess Facility Covax as part of its contribution to the global fight against the pandemic.

Earlier today, the Japanese ambassador to Nigeria Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, presented the vaccines and 175 solar direct drive (SDD) cold chain pieces of equipment to the Nigerian government through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). Speaking at the handover ceremony in Abuja, the  NPHCDA executive director Faisal Shuaib, said the Japanese government also donated 175 SDD refrigerators to aid Covid-19 response in the country.

Dr Shuaib said: “I am pleased to inform you that the government of Japan through the Covax facility has donated 859,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 175 SDD refrigerators to aid Covid-19 response in Nigeria. We have since deployed the SDDs to 24 states of the federation based on vaccine coverage, equity and making sure we reach the last mile.”

He said the vaccines bolster the global effort to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and demonstrate the ongoing commitment of the global community to ensuring Nigeria receives the vaccines it needs. In addition, Dr Shuaib said the SDD refrigerators will be useful because of their advantages in independent and uninterrupted power source for vaccine storage.

Furthermore, Dr Shuaib said Nigeria has so far received 67,973,250 doses of Covid-19 vaccines including 2,100,000 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines procured by the government. He added that about 96.9%  of the vaccines received in Nigeria were through the Covax facility.

Dr Shuaib said: “More than 47m doses are in the pipeline from now to the end of the year. The vaccines include AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer and J&J donated by Gavi and different countries including the US, UK, Slovenia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Spain, Italy, France, Norway, Canada, Germany Ireland, Switzerland, India, and Japan.”

As of today, Nigeria has successfully vaccinated 17,914,944 eligible persons with the first dose, representing 16% of the eligible population in the country. Japanese ambassador Mr Kazuyoshi, said the donations were made as part of  his country's commitment to ensure vaccine equity around the world.

Mr Kazuyoshi said the Japanese government is honoured to be a part of this global vaccination effort in Nigeria by providing 859,600 doses of vaccines. He noted that the SDD refrigerators will ensure stable delivery of vaccines to vaccination sites, with the necessary temperature controls.

“These vaccines will help save lives, protect livelihoods and heal economies currently affected by the pandemic. In our inter-dependent world, Japan and Nigeria are united, beyond borders so we must work together to ensure we are all protected,” Mr Kazuyoshi said.

World Health Organisation country representative Walter Mulombo, said the donation of the Covid-19 vaccines to Nigeria, which began one year ago, has proven to be beneficial. He added that Nigeria has witnessed an increase in the number of people protected from the severity of the deadly virus.