Coronavirus vaccination suffers setback, FG laments vaccine shortage

The Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, on Thursday said with the government’s inability to get more vaccines, only two million Nigerians would be fully vaccinated.

Mustapha said the initial plan of the government was to vaccinate 40 per cent of the population in 2021 and the remaining 30 per cent in 2022.

He said with the latest development, one per cent of the estimated population would be fully vaccinated when the exercise was completed.

He stated this while receiving the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador, Gill Atkinson, in Abuja.

Mustapha stated that with that percentage, Nigeria was far from achieving herd immunity, saying that Nigeria is a danger zone and mass community transmission of the lethal virus looms in the country.

He said, “The clear indication and signal is that Nigeria is still in the danger zone.“The chances of mass community transmission are still there because by the time we complete this phase of vaccination, only one per cent of the population would have been fully vaccinated.

“We need support because our initial schedule was that we would try as much as possible to vaccinate, through the support of COVAX and Harvard facility, 40 per cent in 2021 and 30 per cent in 2022. What we are succeeding to do now is a far cry from that.”

Mustapha called on the United Kingdom and other developed countries to assist with vaccines as soon as possible so as to be able to vaccinate more Nigerians and prevent the third wave of the virus in the country.