Nigeria to get two billion coronavirus vaccine doses – minister

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday asked Health Minister, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, the whereabouts of visiting Chinese medical personnel, saying their activities in the country must the oversighted by the parliament.

The Federal Government says it is working with global health and research organisations who are developing COVID-19 vaccines.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, made this known during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Thursday.

He also said Nigeria was planning with the organisations for the allocation of 2 billion vaccine doses as soon as they are available.

Ehanire said, “Nigeria is also working with the World Health Organisation to finalise enrolment with the ACT – Access To COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a global mechanism tracking and sponsoring global organisations working on COVID-19 vaccine development.

“We also have interest in the COVAX Facility, which is a Gavi-supported initiative to procure and assure equitable access to vaccines as soon as they are available, especially for lower-income countries.

“This will prioritise Nigeria for an allocation of a part of 2 billion vaccine doses that will be secured in a special plan to protect the interest of poorer countries.”

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, as of Wednesday night, the country has recorded over 50,000 COVID-19 infections and about 1,000 associated fatalities.