PHOTOS: FG flags off mass COVID vaccination campaign

The federal government has flagged off a mass COVID-19 vaccination of eligible Nigerians in offices, churches, and universities.

Speaking on Friday during the flag-off ceremony in Abuja, Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said the total number of eligible persons who have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria is 5,989,480, which represents 5.4% the eligible population, while 3,341,094 are fully vaccinated, representing 3%.

Shuab said the agency is, however, concerned about Nigerians that have refused to get vaccinated, which prompted the mass vaccination.

“Mass vaccination is one of our strategic approaches to rapidly increase the number of fully vaccinated eligible populations in Nigeria,” he said.

“To this end, a national strategy known as the S.C.A.L.E.S for intensification of COVID-19 vaccination has been developed for adaptation by state health teams across the country. SCALES stands for service delivery, communication, accountability, logistics, emid (electronic management of immunisation data) and supervision.

“Mass vaccination is an integral component of our service delivery strategy, which takes COVID-19 vaccination beyond primary Healthcare (PHC) Centers. What this simply means is that, in addition to PHC centers, we are creating vaccination sites in secondary health care facilities (hospitals, University health Center/Clinics), pharmacy stores, mosques, churches, corporate offices, private health care facilities (private hospitals/clinics).

“We believe that wherever you may be in this country, you will find a vaccination site close to you. This is to provide all Nigerians easier access to the COVID-19 vaccine. We are also creating temporary vaccination posts and leveraging fixed and outreach routine immunization sessions.”

The director also said those who are vaccinated can now verify and validate their personal information such as name, date of birth, and correct damaged QR code by visiting the portal.

“This is to ease the burden of clients having to go back to their vaccination site to correct an error they had not noticed. As long as you have been vaccinated and have all your proof with you, the process will be seamless,” he said.