Nigeria received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, 2 March 2021, when a cargo aircraft carrying 3.94 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine touched down at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, marking the start of the country's national immunisation campaign.
The consignment was secured through the COVAX facility, the global initiative co-led by the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, aimed at ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for lower-income countries. Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials said the shipment was cleared through a dedicated cold-chain handling process at the airport's cargo terminal.
Cold-Chain Handling at the Airport
Ground handling agents worked with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to move the temperature-sensitive doses directly from the aircraft into refrigerated trucks, avoiding extended tarmac exposure. Health officials said the vaccines would be distributed to all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in the days following arrival.
The shipment came a little over a year after Nigeria confirmed its first COVID-19 case, and airport authorities said they expected further consignments through the same cargo channel as the vaccination programme expanded nationwide.
