NIGERIA is scheduled to begin the second phase of its COVID-19 vaccination programme on August 16.
This was disclosed in an interview with Channels Television on Monday, by the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Faisal Shuaib.
Shuaib said the programme, earlier scheduled for Tuesday, August 10 was postponed to allow for adequate preparation and assessment by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“The start date for the vaccination has been postponed to next week Monday. This is to enable NAFDAC finish its assessment and preparatory processes,” he said.
The Federal Government had said the country was already experiencing the third wave of the virus as the COVID-19 cases had steadily increased in several states across the country.
The spike in cases is being recorded after the Delta variant of the virus was detected by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) during a routine travel test required of international travellers in Abuja.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described the Delta variant as the most transmissible variant of the COVID-19, responsible for the rising cases in about 98 countries across the world.
The highly contagious strain of the virus has been found to spread 225 per cent faster than the original virus.
However, only a small population of Nigerians have been vaccinated.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.