Nigeria opens 2nd phase of COVID-19 vaccination

By XINHUA

A man receives a jab of COVID-19 vaccine at the Federal Medical Center in Abuja, Nigeria, on August 16, 2021. (Photo by Peter Oba/Xinhua)

Nigeria on Monday started the second phase of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program.

Over four million doses of the Moderna vaccine donated by the United States through the COVAX facility will be rolled out in this second phase of vaccination, said Boss Mustapha, secretary of the government of the federation, at a launching ceremony in Abuja on Monday.

A woman receives a jab of COVID-19 vaccine at the Federal Medical Center in Abuja, Nigeria, on August 16, 2021. (Photo by Peter Oba/Xinhua)

“The third wave of COVID-19, with the Delta variant of the virus, is here with us,” said Mustapha. “This has resulted in the upsurge of COVID-19 cases in the last few weeks.”

The Nigerian government had set an ambitious goal of vaccinating at least 40 percent of its population by end of the year, and 70 percent by the end of 2022.

A man receives a jab of COVID-19 vaccine at the Federal Medical Center in Abuja, Nigeria, on August 16, 2021. (Photo by Peter Oba/Xinhua)

Nigeria received the first batch of nearly four million doses of COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility in early March, and took delivery of the four million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on August 2.

Nigeria has been grappling with the more deadly Delta strain of COVID-19 discovered in the country since early July.