The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, says the state has administered 8,953 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose.
Abayomi disclosed this through his official Instagram account @profakinabayomi, while giving the state’s Vaccination Update for Dec. 24, 2021.
He said that 2,049,512 doses of AstraZeneca and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Lagos.
Abayomi noted that 3.15 per cent of the targeted population had received two doses of the vaccines.
According to him, 974,928 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine were administered as the first dose, while 520,622 of the vaccine were administered as the second dose.
The commissioner noted that for the Moderna vaccine, 317,784 were administered as the first dose, while 236,178 were administered for the second dose.
He said that 13,895,199 doses of vaccines need to be administered for the state to achieve its herd immunity target.
Concerns over the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant led many countries to expand their COVID-19 booster programmes.
The Federal Government on Dec. 3 approved the commencement of the administration of COVID-19 booster doses across the country from Dec. 10.
The government through its agency in charge of vaccination programmes – National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) – said that the booster dose gives greater protection against COVID-19 infection.
It said that the booster dose should be administered on Nigerians who have completed the two doses of AstraZeneca, Moderna or Pfizer Bio-N-Tech or one dose of Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
According to the government, Pfizer Bio-N-Tech or Moderna vaccines (mRNA Vaccines) are to be used as booster dose regardless of the type of vaccine an individual took as first and second doses.
However, the Lagos State Government on Dec. 22, announced the non-availability of Moderna vaccine at all vaccination centres in the state.
The Moderna vaccine scarcity affected individuals that were to take the vaccine as a second dose and those interested in the vaccine as a booster dose.
By Oluwafunke Ishola
