The World Health Organisation (WHO) has given preference to
other countries ahead of Nigeria in the first round of supply of the
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said
Nigeria was overlooked based on certain criteria including the capacity to
store it at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
Out of the 13 countries that expressed interest, the
initially-favoured are Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia.
According to Moeti, the process of selecting the four
countries was “challenging”, adding that “supplies were limited”.
“We look forward to working with the other countries to
expand this vaccine delivery,” she said.
Nigeria had submitted a proposal to be supplied the vaccine
being donated by COVAX, the global alliance against COVID-19.
But the major concern has been its lack of storage capacity,
although the country had reportedly acquired three ultra-cold freezers in
anticipation of the vaccine’s arrival.
The country failed to make any provision in the 2021 budget
to fund the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines.
Moeti’s statement read: “In addition, around 320,000 doses
of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries:
Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia.
Deliveries are also expected later on in February,” she said.
“To access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine,
countries were invited to submit proposals. Thirteen African countries
expressed an interest in participating in the initiative, and their proposals
were evaluated based on current mortality rates, new cases and trends and
capacities to deliver this vaccine, including to store it at minus 70 degrees
Celsius.
“I have to say that this was a challenging process as we
know all countries want to start vaccinating their populations. The supplies
were limited but we are glad that we will have a number of countries start and
we look forward to working with the other countries to expand this vaccine
delivery.”
The delay deals a heavy blow on Nigeria’s plan to promptly
vaccinate its citizens against COVID-19 which has already killed 1,640 out of
the 138,000 infected.
Only recently, Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the
National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said the country is
anticipating the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine “in the coming weeks” not
knowing what lies ahead.
Nigeria is getting ready to receive the first 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the coming weeks. Today, I visited the National Strategic Cold Store alongside members of the media and discussed the preparations underway to ensure Nigeria is ready for the vaccine. pic.twitter.com/7n21c9cCsG
— Dr. Faisal Shuaib (@drfaisalshuaib) January 19, 2021
In much-awaited news, the COVAX facility – which is the vaccine component of the ACT
Accelerator – has informed African countries of the first allocations of the
COVID-19 vaccines.
Nearly 90 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
could start arriving on the continent later this month. This is subject to WHO
listing the vaccine for emergency use. The review is ongoing, and its outcome
is expected very soon.
These doses would help countries reach 3% of their
populations in the first half of 2021, targeting the most-at-risk groups,
especially frontline health workers.
As production capacities increase, the COVAX facility is
aiming to reach at least 20% of Africans, which will require delivery of up to
600 million doses during this year.
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