Barring last-minute changes, Nigeria will begin taking delivery of the first batch of COVID-19 Vaccines in January.
Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, revealed that the country has signed up for advanced market participation in Covax, adding that ” we will be able to get our own, in January”
Ehanire while briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said a technical working group is working on the question on the vaccine.
Nigeria had recently signed up with the World Health Organisation and Gavi for access to vaccines immediately they are available.
Ehanire who noted that the vaccines are new and are in packets and that the producers are not given any indemnity added that the ” countries where these vaccines are manufactured, have of course, given themselves the priority to serve themselves, serve their own citizens first”
He however expressed hope that the pressure from the World Health Organisation and Gavi will be able to get reserves for other countries that are not manufacturing and they will be able to attend to what was signed up to.
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“But there are two types of vaccines. There are those that have to be in ultra-deep freezers – the MRA type of vaccines. That is the freezer that must give you Minus 80 percent type of degree.
“There is another type that has to be in the deep freezer of Minus 20 degree which is a deep freezer and there is another type that can be in minus two-degree refrigerators. This is the regular refrigerator.
The Minister who also noted that those requiring regular refrigerators will be easy, because of their availability in the country, added that “The one that will be in Minus 20 refrigerators is also going to be possible because we also have the freezers here but the one that will be in ultracold freezers, we hardly have ultra-cold freezers in this country and to receive and store in those ultra-cold freezers will require that you purchase the ultra-cold freezers.”
The cost consideration is another factor in determining which one the country will get first.
“Remember that we have 200 million citizens. We need to have a way to be able to get enough to be able to take care of our citizens. So, that means we must be able to get the vaccines that work well, with a good cost of storage and cost of delivery. That is the one we will like to get as soon as they are available.
“We also had bilateral discussions with manufacturers. Some of them have written to us that they want to have discussions with us. One of them, as I speak to you, is already having a discussion with the Ministry of Health and the one that the British and Russia teams are putting together.
“We are working with them because if we cannot get enough from one source, we should be able to get from other sources.
Ehanire said the country is looking at multiple sources, adding that “We had a conversation with the United Arab Emirates. The ambassador came to see us and told us that they are buying vaccines from China and had tested them.
“So, they said they are introducing them to us. So, we said we would listen to them because the one that is effective and healthy in those countries and is available is the one we shall bring and that has also proven to be safe.”
