LAGOS, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, ran the risk of a third wave of COVID-19 infections as its vaccine coverage has well fallen behind the annual target, a local health official has warned.

In the state of Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub and COVID-19 epicenter, about 260,000 people have received the jabs, representing just 1 percent of the state population, said Akin Abayomi, health commissioner of Largos state, on Tuesday.

Nigeria kicked off mass vaccination with its first batch of 3.94 million AstraZeneca shots via COVAX program on March 5. By Tuesday, only about 1.2 million doses have been administered, according to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.

To achieve herd immunity, Nigeria has aimed to inoculate 40 percent of its population of over 200 million by the end of 2021, and then 70 percent by 2022.

"It is important that we protect our environment and residents against this virus" especially while vaccine coverage is still low, Abayomi said.

Abayomi said that health facilities have been placed on high alert to pick up early trends that may suggest a third COVID-19 wave, given a more contagious variant first identified in India has triggered third or fourth wave in some countries.

Nigeria has confirmed 165,215 cases as of Tuesday, with 155,371 recoveries and 2,063 deaths, showed official data. Enditem

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