Nigeria to receive 16 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from UK

Nigeria will receive 16 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the United Kingdom in the first half of this year.

The British High Commissioner, Catriona Laing, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said Nigeria as one of the 92 Official Development Assistance (ODA)-eligible countries would benefit from the vaccine arrangement and access free vaccines to cover at least 20 percent of its population.

She added that the UK is playing a supportive role in ensuring an effective and equitable introduction of COVID-19 vaccines to countries.

According to the high commissioner, Nigeria has been allocated COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility.

COVAX has allocated over 330 million doses for low and lower-middle-income countries including Nigeria.

Laing said: ‘‘This is a global pandemic that needs a global solution. The UK is at the forefront of tackling COVID-19 internationally and has so far pledged up to £1.3 billion of UK aid to end the coronavirus pandemic as quickly as possible, championing access to vaccines for all countries, particularly the world’s poorest. The UK is not doing this alone.

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‘‘This is a collective effort, including working with international partners. In Nigeria, the UK is supporting an effective roll-out of the vaccine through engagement and technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and relevant stakeholders.

“COVAX is a global initiative to support the development, manufacture, and fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for up to one billion people by the end of 2021.

“COVAX is an international alliance co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization, with participation from over 180 countries. 

“The UK is one of the largest donors to the COVAX facility and has committed £548 million to the AMC, a scheme that leverages the scale assured by the participation of higher-income economies so that the lower-income countries are able to participate and access COVID-19 vaccines.”

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