The Federal Government has received 699,760 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, donated by the UK government.

According to the Acting British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gill Atkinson, the donation is part of the 80 million doses the country had pledged to support the COVID-19 fight.

“The UK was one of the first countries to back COVAX with £548m. We have consistently pushed for a global effort that helps every country receive the vaccine against COVID-19. I am so pleased to see Nigeria receive 699, 760 doses, donated by the UK, in their second batch of the vaccine through COVAX,” Atkinson said.

She called on citizens to take advantage of the availability of the vaccines and get herd immunity against the virus.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said the vaccines will be deployed immediately, with priority on those who already took the first jab.

He also warned citizens against mixing vaccines.

Before deployment, the vaccines are expected to undergo revalidation by NAFDAC.

The Federal Government on Monday commenced the administration of new vaccines marking the start of the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The second phase of the vaccination programme was breathed into life after the US donated over four million doses of the Moderna vaccine.

The need for the rollout of the second batch of the vaccines has become crucial as Nigeria gradually returns to seeing a spike in infections.

Only about one per cent of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated, so far.

As of Monday, Nigeria recorded 584 new cases of COVID-19, with four deaths.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) disclosed this in its daily report.

Data for the day showed that Lagos maintained the highest number of infections (201), followed by Rivers with 149 cases and the Federal Capital Territory with 82 infections.

Other states with cases are Ondo (73), Ekiti (17), Cross River (13), Oyo (11), Ogun (9), Delta (8), Osun (8), Bayelsa (4), Kaduna (4), Kano (2), Kwara (2), and Sokoto (1).

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