The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), says it has deployed the recently donated Moderna vaccines to 29 States in Nigeria.
The vaccine were donated by the United State of America, to step up efforts to battle the third wave of the COVID-19 infections in the country.
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed the deployment at the National Vaccines briefing in Abuja.
Dr Shuaib said it was pertinent to state that the agency could not deploy the vaccines immediately after the NAFDAC certification because, unlike the Oxford- AstraZeneca, Moderna vaccine did not come with a complete barcoding.
“There are two primary types of barcodes, linear and 2D. Linear and 2D barcodes serve the same purpose, however 2D barcodes can store more information in less area”.
According to the NPHCDA boss, “this is absolutely needed for us to be able to track and trace the vaccines. Nigeria was the first country to use Track and Trace, to monitor the movement and utilization of the vaccine. At every point in time, we know where each vaccine vial is in the country. This takes a lot of time as it entails careful packaging, serialization and follow up to the end user“.
He stated that any state the agency was sending the vaccine to was fully ready to receive them.
“Readiness here means that the state’s ultra-cold chain equipment is fully functional and able to store the vaccines at the required temperatures. Also, the states must have back-up storage facilities such as walk-in cold room, walk-in freezer or chest freezers with reliable 24-hr power supply. Additionally, we require that the States have trained health care workers who will monitor the equipment and the vaccines.
“Now that the vaccines are in the States, we are counting on our Governors to continue to provide the needed oversight and resources to ensure that these vaccines are secured and maintained in the required temperatures and that all eligible persons are mobilized to access the vaccines to protect themselves, their families and their communities against COVID-19,” Dr Shuaib said.
Geographical mapping
Dr Shuaib said that for Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is a single dose, using the Geographical Information System (GIS), the agency had mapped out the hard-to-reach areas across all States, such as security-compromised, riverine, nomadic and border settlements where these vaccines would be deployed for targeted vaccination.
“The reason for targeting these areas with the Johnson & Johnson is because of geographical constraints that make it difficult to reach the dwellers with the second dose after the first contact. Secondly, it removes the additional logistic cost for going to these communities twice. We have developed the necessary protocols to guide the States and ensure compliance with the distribution guideline for the vaccine,” Dr Shuaib explained.
According to him, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will be used as the second dose for those who received their first dose during the first phase to ensure they are fully vaccinated.
“Consequently, the administration of AstraZeneca Vaccine will commence on August 25, and will close Sept. 5,” he said.
Vaccine mobilization
Also speaking at the briefing, UNICEF Representative to Nigeria, Dr Peter Hawkins, called on Nigerians to receive the vaccines available in the country, noting that they were all verified to be efficacious.
According to Hawkins, who was represented by Dr. Gupta Gagan, “Information can be lifesaving, but people will only take on information that they trust.
“There are useful information round COVID-19 vaccines, from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control(NCDC), World Health Organisation(WHO), and NPHCDA, website, where they can get verified information” he said.
He noted that the health care workers should be responsive to citizens when they come for vaccination.
He called on the over 2.5 million Nigerians whom have been vaccinated to mobilize the people in their community to go out and get vaccinated.
Sensitization
Similarly, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Representative in Nigeria, highlighted the country’s high level of preparedness.
Dr Mulombo reiterated the importance of extensive engagement of the media to create sensitization and get more Nigerians vaccinated.
He, however, emphasized that the vaccines approved by both WHO and NAFDAC were safe and effective.
He enjoined Nigerians to get vaccinated to reduce transmission of the virus.
Emmanuel Ukoh
