On October 17, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari, at the last Ministerial Performance Review Retreat of his administration at Abuja, said 38.7 million Nigerians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, representing 35 percent of the total eligible population targeted for vaccination.

 This claim is partly true, here are the Facts:

Following the WHO’s advice, Nigeria established a goal of immunizing 40% of its population of approximately 200 million people by the end of 2021 and 70% by the end of 2022.

Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of the NPHCDA, stated that the federal government intended to vaccinate all eligible populations of 18 years of age and older, including pregnant women, before the vaccine launch.

According to NPHCDA website research, as of October 16, 2022, 45,044, 523 Nigerians had received the complete COVID-19 vaccination.

Compared to the president’s estimate of 35 percent, this statistic represents 40.3 percent of the population.

Conclusion

President Buhari’s assertion that 35 percent of Nigeria’s eligible population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is partly true as the correct figure is 40.3 percent.