Nigeria has secured additional 41 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine - Osagie Ehanire

Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire has announced that Nigeria has secured additional 41 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

 Ehanire who appeared on a Channels Television programme on Thursday January 28, said the 41 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines was secured through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) (a vaccine strategy organised by the African Union) which is being financed by the Afrexim bank. 

 He said; 

 “A mechanism for the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), of which the minister of health of Nigeria is a member, and the chair is the president of South Africa, was inaugurated in November 2020. 

 “At the meeting we had on the 6th of January, it was announced that they had a mix of 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines going to be ready, because they are on order. “Now, we immediately applied for 10 million doses, but at the meeting we had two days ago, the AVATT team announced that they actually had now done allocation according to population. “Nigeria is allocated 41 million doses of vaccines of three types.” 

 On if the vaccines will be available in the country in February, Ehanire said the manufacturers will determine when the vaccine will be available. He added that while the COVAX facility doses are free for the first 20 percent of the population, the country will pay for logistics on delivery and administration. 

 The health minister added; 

 “We do not have an exact date. The date it comes out depends on when the manufacturers are able to deliver, and that is not something any country can enforce. “Nigeria is mobilising resources. We have some funds ready. We will make a substantial deposit when it is time."