Story from Ademola ADEBAYO, Abuja
The storage requirements for the 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine expected in the country by the end of January is intact; so says the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib.
The clarification came amidst fears by Nigerians that the country was not prepared for the receipt and storage of the COVID-19 vaccine, which the Federal Government had placed an order for, and which will be arriving by the end of January.
At Monday’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, Shuaib stated that reports of lack of storage capacity for the vaccine were false.
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“We have developed a comprehensive vaccine deployment and vaccination plan for the country. We have also developed an operational manual to roll out the vaccine when it arrives,” he said.
While drumming support for the importance of the deployment of vaccines in the campaign against the spread of COVID-19 in the country, Shuaib said that from available scientific evidence the vaccines being procured by the government is having guaranteed efficacy.
“The requirement for the 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccines that will be coming towards the end of the month is 500 metres. So, we have more than enough storage capacity for the 100,000 doses,” he said.
The Nigerian government had said it will receive at least 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of January through COVAX, an initiative run by the vaccine alliance, GAVI, to ensure equitable access to the vaccine.
Meanwhile, health minister, Osagie Ehanire, has said efforts are ongoing to secure about 10 million more doses of the approved COVID-19 vaccines for Nigerians.
Mr Ehanire while speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing, on Monday, said the country is expecting 10 million doses of the viral vector vaccine, which could be supplied as from March 2021.
He said Nigeria is participating in the African Union initiative called “African Vaccine Availability Task Team”, which has secured 270 million doses of various types of vaccines.
“Bearing in mind options suitable for our environment and the available infrastructure, as well as Investment in delivery, Nigeria has written to express interest in 10 million doses of the viral vector vaccine, which could be supplied as from March 2021,” Mr Ehanire said.
“Apart from the COVAX facility, which is billed to cover just 20 per cent of our population, we plan to increase our chances of getting enough vaccines to meet the country’s need to cover an additional 50 per cent of the population.”
