Nigeria aims to get 70 million J&J COVID-19 vaccines through African Union

* Nigeria is Africa's most populous country
* Expects to get 30 million J&J doses in July
* Extra budget to fund vaccines expected within two weeks

By Alexis Akwagyiram
ABUJA, March 31 (Reuters) - Nigeria hopes to receive up to
70 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N COVID-19
vaccine this year through the African Union (AU), its primary
healthcare chief told Reuters, amid concerns about delayed
deliveries of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) AZN.L shots.
Rolling out vaccines in developing nations such as Nigeria,
whose 200 million-strong population is Africa's biggest, is seen
as key to stemming the global spread of the new coronavirus.
Nigeria, which has recorded 2,049 deaths from COVID-19 and
began vaccinations this month, plans to inoculate 40% of its
people this year and another 30% in 2022.
Last week, India - the world's biggest vaccine maker - said
it would prioritise domestic inoculations, prompting fears of
delays in the export of AstraZeneca doses under the World Health
Organization (WHO)-backed COVAX scheme to supply vaccines to
poorer countries.
In a separate development, Johnson & Johnson on Monday said
it will supply the AU with up to 400 million doses of its
single-dose vaccine beginning in the third quarter. Faisal Shuaib, who heads Nigeria's National Primary Health
Care Development Agency, told Reuters that Nigeria expects to
initially receive 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson
vaccine in July through the AU.
"We're hoping that we'll be able to get up to 70 million
doses of the Johnson & Johnson this year. This is yet to be
finalised but these are some of the advanced conversations that
are going on between Nigeria and the African Union," he said
during an interview in the capital, Abuja.
Nigeria previously said it had applied for 41 million doses
of vaccines through the AU, comprising of Pfizer PFE.N ,
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson shots. But Shuaib said the
proportion of AstraZenca doses was likely to be reduced by the
delays.
"Some of the allocations that we were supposed to get for
the AstraZeneca will be replaced by the Johnson and Johnson," he
said, adding that this was yet to be finalised.
Germany has from Wednesday restricted the use of
AstraZeneca's vaccine to those aged 60 and above as it
investigates a small number of reports of rare blood clotting in
people who got the vaccine. And Canada on Monday said it would
not offer the shots to people under 55. Global regulators have said the shot is safe and effective.
Shuaib said there was no evidence of adverse side effects in
Nigeria and the AstraZeneca vaccine would continue to be used
for eligible people aged 18 and above.
Nigeria's finance minister has said the country will draw up
a supplementary budget to cover the cost of COVID-19
vaccinations, for which no provision was made in the 2021
finance bill adopted in December.
Shuaib said he expected the supplementary budget to be
presented to lawmakers within the next two weeks.