By CGTN Africa
Nigeria will start a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign on November 19, to inoculate half of its targeted population by the end of January.
Under the initiative, hopes to administer 55 million doses. So far, Nigeria The country has only vaccinated 2.9 percent of those eligible to get vaccines.
Vaccine sites will be set up at private health facilities, universities, colleges, stadiums, motor parks, and shopping malls among other venues.
According to Boss Mustapha, head of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, the government “has enough vaccines in the pipeline to vaccinate about 50 percent of the target population by the end of January 2022.”
He also said the government was making efforts to secure booster shots “so as to build a healthy level of antibodies.” He did not provide details.
Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said Nigeria received about 5 million AstraZeneca shots last month from the COVAX global-sharing facility, both purchases, and donations.
Africa’s most populous country has a goal to vaccinate 111 million people to reach herd immunity.
Nigeria also had commitments for 11.99 million and 12.2 million doses of Pfizer Inc/BioNTech and Moderna Inc COVID-19 vaccines.