The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency has flagged off the National Community Pharmacy Vaccination Exercise in order to expand access to COVID-19 vaccination and other immunization services across Nigeria.
The Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, says the move is to take vaccination closer to the people.
“Indeed, this collaboration is a step in the right direction as it is in furtherance of our determination to expand access to COVID-19 vaccination and other immunization services across the country. I believe this is an unprecedented and novel initiative that we have embarked on as a country to strengthen our health security architecture.”
“I want to recognize the strong leadership and commitment of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, and the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria for their relentless effort to ensure that this collaboration becomes a reality,” Dr Shuaib said.
He said that the Community pharmacies are one of the most easily accessible and frequently consulted points of care for health care service delivery by the public sector especially in underserved population due to their interconnectedness with the communities.
“In Nigeria, for example, community pharmacies involvement in differentiated care and administration of antiretroviral medicines for HIV care have been shown to improve retention on treatment, adherence to medication, and overall better treatment outcomes.”
He noted that many countries around the world have authorised vaccination in community pharmacies, including COVID-19 vaccination.
“This practice has shown promise in countries like South Africa, the United States of America and United Kingdom to mention but a few, where pharmacies are playing a crucial role in the administration of COVID-19 vaccine. With over 6000 community pharmacies spread across the country, coupled with the ease of access and long operating hours, I believe this will contribute to rapidly increasing vaccination coverage,” he added.
The Executive Director also assured all Nigerians that, Nigeria has enough COVID-19 vaccines in the country and I therefore urge all eligible Nigerians aged 18 years and above who are yet to receive their COVID-19 vaccines or those who are due for second dose or the booster dose to visit the nearest health facility or designated community Pharmacies to get vaccinated.
In his remark, the National Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Pharmacist . Adewale Oladigbolu, said the flag off shows that Nigeria has prioritized the needs of the people and worked tirelessly in making Covid 19 vaccination widely accessible through Community Pharmacies.
He said that, “We need to remind ourselves that Covid 19 took away about 15million lives globally between 2020 and 2021. We have passed the peak of the pandemic and we have global health interventions, the great works being done by management and staff of NPHCDA and the unwavering efforts of healthcare providers to thank for this.
“Only about 15.8% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated in Nigeria, we share the joint responsibility to move the figure to 70% to guide against relapse and the emergence of a more virulent strain of the virus.”
The chairman noted that the collaboration is the first of its kind in Public Private engagements towards achieving universal health coverage.
“Here is one public health initiative that is bound to improve access to vaccines, given that community Pharmacists are easily accessible, they Offer extended hours of service, are trusted health care professionals and as such their inclusion in vaccination processes will drive down vaccine hesitancy and improve coverage tremendously,” he said.
The UNICEF Country Representative to Nigeria, Mr. Peter Hawkins, described the collaboration as innovative way of making vaccine available in communities.
He said that UNICEF would continue to assist Nigeria in making vaccine available.
With the national flag off of the National Community Pharmacy Vaccination Exercise, all members of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria have license to administer COVID-19 vaccines to eligible Nigerians.
