By JOHN NWOKOCHA, Abuja

•All childhood vaccination, vitamin A administrationwill now be done alongside COVID-19 vaccination at COVID-19 vaccination sites-Osagie Ehanire

•20 million Nigerians vaccinated by February 18

Eligible children will now be able to receive their BCG, Penta 3, OPV 3, OPV 1&2, Measles, Yellow Fever vaccines, as well as Vitamin A supplement, at the sites where the adults receive COVID-19 vaccines,Ministerof Health DR. Osagie Ehaniresaid on Tuesday in Abuja at the public launch ofSCALES 2.0 Strategywith the use ofJohnson andJohnson single dose vaccine.

The minister noted that COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, has negatively impacted all aspects of life including childhood routine immunization.

SCALES is an acronym for service delivery, communication, accountability, logistics, electronic reporting, and supportive supervision for the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination.He said the SCALES strategy has proven to be quite effective in ramping up COVID-19 vaccination coverage.

Ehanire also noted that the proportion of fully vaccinated Nigerians is still very low,“partly because we have been using two-dose vaccines”, he stressed.

“It has become imperative that we launch the SCALES 2.0 Strategy, which entails the integration of COVID-19 vaccination with childhood routine immunization for eligible adults 18 years and above and children zero to two years respectively, leveraging Mass Vaccination Campaigns, Routine Immunization Fixed sessions, Outreach services and Mobile services”.

According to him, in November 2021, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) introduced the SCALES strategy to rapidly ramp up COVID-19 vaccine coverage by expanding access to COVID-19 vaccines outside the health facility.

He informedthat mass vaccination sites have been established at all public places such as markets, parks, shopping malls, schools, mosques, and churches. SCALES is an acronym for service delivery, communication, accountability, logistics, electronic reporting, and supportive supervision for the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination.

“Let me assure Nigerians that we have adequate stock of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, as we have over 30 million doses in stock. I call on all eligible persons that are yet to receive their vaccination to go to the nearest COVID-19 vaccination site and get vaccinated. This single dose offers the same protection you get from two doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer Bio-N-Tech and Moderna vaccines”.

He informs further: “As of 18th February, Nigeria has administered over 20million doses, representing over 18% of the 111,176,503 eligible population targeted for COVID-19 vaccination”.

He noted that “unfortunately, most people are reluctant to take their second dose for various reasons including fear of a repeat of the mild side effects they may have experienced with the first dose”.

Present at the launch areExecutive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Faisal Shuaib, representatives of UNICEF, Dr Peter Hopkins, WHO,United States, the UK government, European Union and, development partnersof Nigeria.

The stakeholders made remarks on Nigeria’s progress in COVID-19 vaccination. While WHO called on Africa continent to rethink stepping up vaccine uptake and urged governments to work hence, universal health is so important, UNICEF noted that Nigeria needs to accelerate its immunization programme, Hopkins who represented the Fund said although progress is being made, there is more work to do. The Fund therefore charged religious and traditional institutions to rally government’s efforts towards COVID-19 mass vaccination, saying is to ensure that Nigeria comes out stronger.