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Tag: Faisal Shuaib

  • COVID-19: Again, NPHCDA appeals to Nigerians to get vaccinated

    COVID-19: Again, NPHCDA appeals to Nigerians to get vaccinated

    The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has again appealed to Nigerians, who are yet to be vaccinated, to get the COVID-19 vaccines.

    The Executive Secretary of the agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, made the call at a one-day evaluation meeting for COVID-19 vaccination exercise.

    The meeting was organised by the Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF), an independent partner, assisting the NPHCDA to drive the campaign for vaccination against CoVID-19.

    NSSF entered into agreement with NPHCDA in Sept. 2021, to support COVID-19 vaccination campaign across the country, but kick-started the project with six states, including Edo, Ogun, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Katsina and Imo.

    The goal, of the agreement is to vaccinate one million eligible Nigerians in the States

    Shuaib, represented at the meeting, by Dr Bassey Okposen, Director of Disease Control and immunisation/Programme Manager, COVID-19 vaccination war room, NPHCDA, said: ”the virus was still very much in the circulation.

    ”COVID-19 is still very active and there is need for  Nigerians to get vaccinated and stay safe.

    ”People are still dying globally, there are countries that are still having new outbreaks, it is good we take the vaccine and kick COVID out of our country.

    “We are not only doing COVID-19 vaccination at the moment, we are also doing integrated vaccination, along with routine immunisation, maternal services and other care at the primary healthcare level.

    “As a nation, we have not achieved credibility on this, we need to get vaccinated so that we can still be safe as a country”, he said.

    He said till date, 55.6 per cent of Nigerians have taken only the first dose.

    The director also said that 44.6 per cent of Nigerians are fully vaccinated.

    “The current drive under the leadership of the Minister of Health, with the support from the President and the entire presidential steering committee on COVID-19, has made us move the figure from 13 per cent.

    “Our target is to ensure 70 per cent of the population get vaccinated before December 2022, we are working hard on this”.

    Also speaking, Dr Fejiro Chinye-Nwoko, General Manager/CEO, NSSF, stated that the organisation, conceptualised the meeting to get brief on the improvement of the vaccination on states the partner was already supporting.

    She said with the coming of the independent partner, NSSF, the vaccination figure had risen from over four million Nigerians, where it was met, and had been able to increase the vaccination figure tremendously.

    “In September 2021, NPHCDA approached us for support to increase the vaccination coverage, as at that time, the coverage was just over four million Nigerians who had vaccinated for COVID.

    “We supported NPHCDA by donating N300 million for the vaccination in six states, and with that support, we were able to vaccinate over two million Nigerians.

    “Apart from the direct support vaccination that we got from the six states, we were able to accelerate the vaccination all over Nigeria, which also led to the current number of 40 million Nigerians who have vaccinated.

    “We have gotten the partnership and we will remain partners, we are working with them, advocating for more support, for more coverage, for more mobilisation to reduce vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria,’’ she said.

    She added that the availability of the vaccine was not a challenge, but the hesitancy is the major challenge, stressing that, NSSF was also working with NPHCDA to increase mobilisation and reduce vaccine hesitancy in other states.

    According to her, in no distant time, the NSSF will get the 70 per cent coverage which is the country’s target.

    Also contributing, Mr Adis Mohammad, Executive Secretary, Nasarawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, appreciated the NSSF, for the funds.

    Mohammed said the fund and with the support of the state government, the state healthcare agency was able to get the people to access the vaccine.

    ”When the fund came the state government and other partners like UNICEF, the state healthcare was able to mobilise the people easily.

    “We were able to penetrate some communities, mobilise the people, as well as use the money for other activities like, jingles, buying T-shirts, handbills and posters to drive the campaign for people to get vaccinated.

    “Our success story is also driven by Gov. Abdullahi Sule who gave us the enabling environment, no matter the strategy, if you don’t have the support of the government, the right environment will not be able to implement your plan.

    “We have a government that gave us all the needed support for us to go out and mobilized the citizens of Nasarawa state to access this vaccine, this also included our strong vaccination team within the state, all what we carried out was team work,’’ Mohammad said.

  • Nigeria to receive 29.8 million doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

    Nigeria to receive 29.8 million doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

    The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says Nigeria will receive 29.8 million doses of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine.

    The NPHCDA Executive Director, Dr Faisal Shuaib made this public on Monday during the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja.

    “The Federal Government has signed off to receive up to 29.8 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines through the African Union platform,” he said.

    Shuaib said the country was also expecting deliveries of vaccines through the COVAX facility by the end of May or early June.

    ”By this time, the country would have completed the process of administering the second doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines already on ground.

    “Having received 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in early March, Nigeria commenced vaccination beginning with healthcare workers,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the NPHCDA boss, said vaccination against COVID-19 was still ongoing in all states of the Federation.

    He said the country had vaccinated 1,175,285 eligible Nigerians as of April 26, adding that the figure represented 58.4 per cent of people eligible to receive the vaccines.

    “Our collaboration with health officials and other stakeholders at the national, state, LGA and community levels in the vaccination exercise has yielded substantial result,” the NPHCDA executive secretary said.

    Shauib said that the government was aware of the global scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines due to high demands.

    He said the scarcity would affect the remaining phases of the vaccination campaign in the country.

    “We are aware of the global scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines due to high demands especially in countries where vaccines are being produced.

    “We therefore anticipate a delay in vaccine supply to Nigeria which may also affect and impact the remaining phases of the vaccination campaign.,” he explained.

    The Federal Government plans to vaccinate 109 million people against COVID-19 virus over a period of two years.

    It reports that only eligible population from 18 years and above will be vaccinated in four phases.

    Meanwhile, the J&J COVID-19 single-dose vaccine is compatible with standard vaccine storage and distribution channels with ease of delivery to remote areas.

    The vaccine is estimated to remain stable for two years at -4°F (-20°C), and a maximum of three months at routine refrigeration temperatures of 36-46°F (2 to 8°C).

    The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration recently approved the suspension of administering the J&J vaccine over six reported U.S. cases of a “rare and severe” type of blood clot.

    According to a joint statement on Tuesday from Anne Schuchat, CDC Principal Deputy Director and Peter Marks, FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director, the six cases occurred among women aged between 18 and 48, while symptoms occurred within six to 13 days after vaccination.

    The suspension was however lifted on the J&J COVID-19 vaccines after 10 days, but with a directive that a warning label should printed on it about the potential for extremely rare blood clots.

    The European regulators in April also linked similar, highly unusual blood clots to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot, but found the benefits of the drug outweighed any risks.

  • BREAKING: First batch of AstraZeneca vaccines arrives in Nigeria

    BREAKING: First batch of AstraZeneca vaccines arrives in Nigeria

    The first batch of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 3,924,000 doses, has arrived in Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the country via the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

    A small ceremony chaired by Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 is currently being held at the VIP Protocol section of the airport to receive the vaccine.

    ALSO READ || How to register and receive early COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria

    Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib had said at the end of the ceremony, a few vials of the vaccines would be handed over to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

    TNG reports NAFDAC is expected to analyze the vaccine over a period of two days, i.e. Wednesday March 3rd and Thursday March 4th.

    Further to the clearance by NAFDAC, the PTF, NPHCDA, the federal ministry of health and strategic leaders will be at the treatment center of the National Hospital on Friday March 5th 2021, where the first vaccination site will be set up to commence the vaccination of the frontline health workers and support staff.

    According to the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, on Monday March 8th 2021, more vaccination sites would have been set up at designated locations such as National Assembly clinic, State House clinic and Federal medical centre, Jabi where strategic leaders such as the SGF, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Attorney General of the Federation, Inspector General of Police, the Ministers and Ministers of States, Senators, House of Representatives, traditional leaders and religious leaders would be vaccinated.

    “After this launch and initial roll-out phase, Vaccine distribution to the States for the phase 1 vaccination process will begin. This phase is the vaccination of all frontline health workers, their supporting staff and strategic leaders.

    “Deployment of vaccines to the States would be based on the assessment of their level of preparedness. Some of the parameters that would be used for the assessment include adequate maintenance of their cold chain storage facilities, adequate preparation for logistic transportation to the ward/ health facility, adequate security in place during transportation and at vaccination sites, completion of training of health workers, efficient social mobilization activities in place, adherence to protocol for vaccine deployment.

    “Working with CACOVID, plans are on ground for a cargo plane provided by them to transport the vaccines to the States by air. States without a functional airport will have their vaccines transported by road using vans with fitted Cold Cabins, from the nearest airport. The vaccines will be stored at the State Cold Stores, from where they will be transported by road to LGA Cold Stores

    “Once activities have commenced in the States, there would be strict monitoring by PTF, FMOH, NPHCDA and independent bodies such as EFCC, DSS, ICPC, and Civil Society Organizations.

    “States/health facilities/health workers that are identified as defaulting from the standard protocol and guidelines for this phase of vaccination would be sanctioned.

    “While this is ongoing, the National team would be ready for the arrival of the next batch of vaccines which would be used for the next phase of vaccination.

    “Phase 2 vaccination process involves vaccination of the elderly from 50 years and above. This has been sub grouped into 2, with the vaccination of 60 and above occurring first followed by 50 — 59years. This will occur across all 36 States and the FCT. Those who are eligible for vaccination that have not registered electronically, would be assisted at the designated health facility and would be vaccinated.

    “The phase 3 vaccination process involves vaccination of those between 18 — 49years with co-morbidities (such as hypertension, diabetes, lung disease, other heart disease, liver or renal disease, etc). Individuals at ages 50 and above with co-morbidities would already have been Immunized within their age group.

    “The phase 4 vaccination process would involve vaccination of the rest of the eligible population between the ages 18 — 49years. It is worthy to note that at each phase of vaccination, the level of preparedness of the States are assessed before vaccines are deployed and accountability measures have been put in place to ensure strict compliance to the vaccination process. Pregnant women will be evaluated by their health providers to weigh the benefit versus risk, before a decision is taken to vaccinate them,” Dr Shuaib said at a press briefing on Monday.

    The NPHCDA Executive Director urged all eligible Nigerians aged 18 years and above to be patient, saying they will eventually be vaccinated.

    “As the vaccines arrive in batches due to limited supply we will inform Nigerians about who and where to receive the vaccine.

    “A comprehensive and transparent roll-out plan that involves public vaccination of President Muhammadu Buhari and other important dignitaries and stakeholders has been developed,” Dr Shuaib added.

  • FG secures first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for health workers

    FG secures first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for health workers

    The federal government has secured the first batch of 100,000 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines for frontline healthcare workers in Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) made this known on Friday.

    Dr Shuaib said the 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are expected in the country by the end of January, 2021.

    He also said millions of other doses that will cover 20% of the Nigerian population will come in March.

    Speaking live on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Good Morning Nigeria show, the ED of the NPHCDA also said the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will, irrespective of other foreign certifications, carry out due diligence and certify the vaccines good enough before they would be used.

    “100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are expected in the country by the end of January, 2021.

    “We are prioritising our health workers. When the vaccine arrives, 100,000 will go to the front line workers.

    “The first batch of 100,000 will be here in January. Millions of other doses that will cover 20% of the population will come in March.

    “Our focus is to get vaccines that our cold chain can manage. We have the ultra cold chain to keep them potent.

    “We have invested in cold chain equipments. We are aware the Covac Facility will bring additional vaccines that will work more in our environment.

    “We are also generating a more comprehensive database of such workers. There is a comprehensive deployment plan. We are identifying priorities especially those that work directly with patients and we have a list of these individuals that work across the country.

    “For us in the health sector, we must put in the effort and push the drive for vaccine. We must also listen to people and empathise with their concerns with continuous sensitization.

    “We are working with a regulatory agency — NAFDAC, irrespective of other foreign certification of the vaccine. There must be due diligence.

    “When the vaccines come, NAFDAC has to go through the assessment and processes to certify it good enough for Nigerians.

    “The leadership of NAFDAC is very important. They will work with WHO to certify the vaccines. We have competent Nigerians that can do the job,” Dr Shuaib said.

    Meanwhile, in a bid to encourage Nigerians to get inoculated, the ED had said President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will receive their COVID-19 vaccine doses on live television.

    Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha will also receive the vaccine on live telecast in a move the government hopes will help drive awareness.

  • President Buhari appoints NPHCDA Head

    ImageFile: President Buhari appoints NPHCDA Head
    Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Head of NPHCDA

    Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has on Wednesday appointed Faisal Shuaib as the Executive Secretary of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

    Shuaib, a medical doctor and public health specialist, is a Senior Program Officer (Africa) for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) at Seattle, USA.

    At the BMGF, Shuaib is responsible for developing and implementing strategies on polio outbreak response activities in Africa.

    Prior to joining the foundation, Shuaib coordinated Nigeria’s successful response to the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as the Incident Manager of the Ebola Emergency Operations Centre in 2014.

    He was also a member of the six-man panel established to assess the response of the World Health Organization (WHO) to the global Ebola outbreak in 2014 and provided technical advice to the Federal Ministry of Health and NPHCDA in areas of immunization and polio eradication activities between 2012 and 2015.

    Dr. Shuaib had in the past also worked as a research associate at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.