Nigeria is yet to meet the 70 per cent COVID-19 target two years after it commenced the COVID-19 vaccination, the Federal Government has said.
It, however, noted that for the country to achieve herd immunity, about 70 to 90 per cent of the population needs to be immune to a disease, either by contracting the disease and recovering or by getting a protective vaccine.
This is just as experts blamed misinformation as a critical element in the hesitancy witnessed in the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.
They spoke at the End of Project knowledge-sharing event for the Accelerating Equitable Access, Acceptance and Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccines (ACCESS) Project in Abuja on Tuesday.
The event was organised by Pathfinder International with support from the MacArthur Foundation.
According to the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaibu, only 60 per cent of the targeted population for COVID-19 vaccination had taken the full jabs in the country.
Shuaibu, who was represented by the State Immunisation Officer, FCT, Dr. Nicholas Okoli: “We all know that for us to attain herd immunity, a significant number of the population must have been vaccinated.
“Our target is to vaccinate every eligible person, 18 years and above, in Nigeria. That translates to about 70 per cent of the population. But as I speak to you now, we are still short of that 70 per cent.
