Nation
Covid-19 Vaccine: NPHCDA Inoculates 1.8m So Far
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says a total of 1,794,552 Nigerians have so far been inoculated with the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
The NPHCDA disclosed this on its official Twitter handle late Saturday.
It stated that Lagos, the FCT and Kano have so far vaccinated the highest number of people – 279,372, 118,895 and 92,583 respectively.
The immunisation agency said that three states reached 100 per cent of their target population.
They are Kwara with 104 per cent; Ekiti with 100 per cent and Cross River with 100 percent.
According to the agency, this brings the proportion of Nigerians vaccinated to 89.2 percent.
It said that the second dose of Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines had begun.
NPHCDA urged Nigerians, who had received their first dose of the vaccine, to ensure they check their vaccination cards to know when they were due for their second jab.
It stated that this would ensure that every Nigerian who receives a vaccine from the present supply, receives their second dose before the recommended time span between doses passes, “which is between six and 12 weeks’’.
The agency added that more than two million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have been reserved for the second dose in the first phase of vaccination.
According to it, administering these two doses of the vaccine within the recommended time frame is very important to ensure full inoculation benefits.
“This means that with the current supply, we will fully inoculate roughly two million Nigerians.
“We are removing an element of risk that is becoming too high,’’ the agency twitted.
Nigeria has received about four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine out of the 16 million doses expecting from COVAX.
COVAX is the vaccine-sharing initiative that provides free and discounted doses for lower-income countries.
NPHCDA the agency said that Nigeria was expecting about 40 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from the African Union (AU) in a very short while from now.
It, however, declined to give specific dates.
The country has, so far, received about 4.1 million doses of the vaccine.
The Nigerian government had said it plans to vaccinate 109 million people against the Covid-19 virus over a period of two years.
The Alliance Française Port Harcourt in conjunction with the Embassy of France Nigeria over the weekend joined the globe to campaign against the 2025 gender- based violence (GBV) with the theme: “16 Days of Activism Against Gender- Based Voice”
The event which took place at the event Hall of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt was in collaboration with the Female in Gaming Network, ( FIGN) and partnership with Nexal a body that seeks to promote online safety and responsible digital behaviour.
The Tide reports that the project which was aimed at promoting digital safety and girls inclusion in Gaming, with the initiative tagged ‘Gameover Gender- Base Violence’was part of the global campaign against gender- based Violence.
The activity which experienced a flavour of festivity was full of fun and excitements as participants took part in tournaments on popular digital games such as Mario kart and EAFC 25, with an intent to creating safer and more inclusive digital spaces.
The Director of the Alliance Française Port Harcourt, Mrs Marina Lacal said that these activities were designed to encourage inclusion of girls, team work and fair play on online gaming spaces, saying that the gaming world reflects these inequalities, where female players are often under represented.
According to her the main objectives of the initiative was to provide a supportive environment for girls and female in gaming network.
“GameOverGBV” is a project created to reshape this landscape by offering an innovative inclusiveness of girls on online digital Gaming community and digital environments that provide opportunities for creativity, learning and connection, but also fight against Gender-Based Violence Digital Gaming,”she said
She however, explained that the Digital Game, sport competitions, was launched to strengthen social and digital skills through games, workshops, and raise awareness among all young participants about respect, equality and digital citizenship.
The Tide News reports that in Port Harcourt, the competition brought together 100 young participants from three major universities: University of Port Harcourt, ( UNIPORT),Ignatius Ajuru University of Education(IAUE) and Rivers State University (RSU)as well as students from four selected secondary schools, Oginigba comprehensive Secondary.School, Vine lnternational, Virgo predicanda lnternational, and Excellent Montessori Secondary school.
“This is an approach where girls and boys can learn, play and collaborate in a more respectful and safe space for young women, while ensuring a safe, enjoyable and respectful digital environment. It also expose young women to cyberbullying, exclusion, sexist comments and online hate,” Mrs. Lacal said.
Earlier, a game developer Sophia Nei and her. team had engaged participants in an interactive session with the theme: “Can Video Games Be Safe Spaces For Girls?”
However, Mrs Nei and her team educated the girls on the benefits and violence on online digital gaming and urged them ( participants)to learn to say ‘No’ to Online hate, sexist and cyber bullying, while encouraging them(students) to stand up for themselves by reporting such issues to the appropriate authority.
Highlight of the competition was the awarding of prizes to winners by the Director of Alliance Française, Mrs Marina Lacal.
