Nigerian govt targets 20m doses of COVID-19 vaccine

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said on Thursday the Federal Government was working toward getting 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from other parts of the world.

Ehanire, who disclosed this at the daily media briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, said the first set of beneficiaries would be health workers who were exposed to the risk of COVID-19 infection on daily basis.

He, however, said any vaccine that would be administered in the country would be subjected to certification by World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Agency For Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

According to him, the federal government was also working with the National Assembly to set aside funds for the COVID-19 vaccines when they are available.

The minister said: “The first set of candidate vaccines are ready to be rolled out in Europe and the United States and a technical working group led by the National Primary Health Development Agency (NPHDA) is working on the evaluation of prospective vaccines and Nigeria’s vaccine needs.

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“We are working with the World Health Organisation and GAVI-led Covax facility and other stakeholders to ensure that Nigeria gets quality vaccines when they are deployed.

“We also continue to explore all avenues of getting access to additional vaccines and in that connection, met with Ambassador of United Arab Emirate (UAE) in Nigeria to discuss cooperation in access to vaccine technology and production.

“He reaffirmed the support of his country for our response to the pandemic.”

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