Nigeria has finally received its first batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX--a global initiative that seeks to ensure equitable distribution of the vaccines to all countries.

AFP reports that a batch of four million COVAX vaccines have now landed in Nigeria.

The vaccines are produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India.

The WHO gave the green light for the vaccines on Monday, February 15, 2021, ending a wait to have them rolled out globally through COVAX.

NAFDAC has also endorsed the vaccine.

The AstraZeneca/Oxford product, a viral vectored vaccine called ChAdOx1-S, has been found to have 63.09% efficacy and is suitable for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements.

Of the 88 million AstraZeneca doses allocated to Africa for the first phase, Nigeria will receive 16 million doses, the largest allocation.

A recent survey indicates that six in ten Nigerians are willing to take the vaccine.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has outlined how interested Nigerians can register for COVID-19 vaccination on its website.

Nigeria has reported close to 160,000 COVID-19 cases as of March 2, 2021.