Nigeria receives 4.4 million doses of J&J COVID vaccine from Spain

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
Illustration of COVID-19 vaccine vial

ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigeria has received 4.4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from Spain, a government official said on Tuesday.

Nigeria has already received 2 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from Finland, Greece and Slovenia with more expected from EU countries.

Faisal Shuaib, head of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said Nigeria wanted to vaccinate 70% of its population. It was far off the target but Spain's donation would help, he said.

Shuaib said 23.4% of the eligible population had received a first dose of vaccine, while 15.8% have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Nigeria has recorded 255,937 confirmed cases as of Tuesday with 3,143 deaths.

(Reporting by Camillus EbohWriting by Chijioke OhuochaEditing by Bhargav Acharya and Grant McCool)