NIGERIA has received 10,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine from the United States (US) Agency for International Development (USAID), the first batch of which arrived the country, following the confirmed 40 cases, with no fatalities so far.
According to Reuters, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Mr. Muyi Aina, in a statement, described the donation as a “critical step” for Nigeria, adding: “We are aware that the vaccine is not exactly in surplus supply.
“I believe we’re getting 10,000 of the about 200,000 doses that are available globally.”
The Federal Government has decided to prioritise five states to receive the vaccines, including Bayelsa, Edo, Cross-River and Lagos, according to USAID’s statement.
“We encourage the government to continue to mobilise domestic resources to secure more vaccines to combat Mpox,” US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Mills, said at the handover ceremony of the vaccines to the federal government.
NHPCDA has not yet disclosed when the vaccines would be distributed or who would be prioritised for treatment, even as more cases have been reported across the country.
