The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari received a first dose of vaccine against the coronavirus on Saturday morning in Abuja, the day after the launch of the vaccination campaign in the most populous country in Africa.
“To show my confidence in the safety and efficacy of these vaccines, I received my first injection today, and I urge all Nigerians to do the same, so that we are protected against this virus, “Buhari said in a statement.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo also received on Saturday, like Mr. Buhari, a dose during this vaccination organized at the presidential palace and broadcast on national television.
The day before, a doctor was the first Nigerian to be vaccinated in the West African country of 200 million people.
Nigeria received nearly 4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, funded by the COVAX device which aims to provide them to low-income countries.
This is the first batch of 16 million AstraZeneca / Oxford doses due to arrive in Nigeria in the coming months, where caregivers and professions at risk will be the first to be vaccinated.
Nigeria had 158,042 cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, including 1,954 deaths. But these results are considered undervalued, due to a low number of tests carried out in relation to the population.