People at Ojodu-Berger in Lagos.
Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei / AFP / Getty Images
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Nigeria has not yet purchased any Covid-19 vaccines, as the most populous country in Africa is still judging the prices of different shots, its availability and the logistics required in a nationwide implementation.
Health Minister Adeleke Olurunnimbe Mamora said that once the government determines which vaccines are accessible and affordable, the authorities should consider storage and distribution issues as they prepare to shoot 200 million people.
“We have not made any purchases at this stage,” Mamora, who is the second highest official in the ministry, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. He added that the government will have a definitive plan by the end of January.
An ambitious goal to vaccinate as many as 40% of the population in Nigeria this year has been questioned by a state governor and experts, who said there is a lack of resources and infrastructure in a country plagued by daily power outages and abandoned roads and bridges.
More than 37.9 million shots: Covid-19 vaccine detection
Faisal Shuaib, chief executive officer of Nigeria’s national primary health care development agency, said on Thursday that the country expects to receive 100,000 doses of Pfizer Inc. shot through the Covax initiative in late January. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Shuaib said the West African nation had secured services for ultra-cold storage facilities to keep and distribute the vaccines.
Covax is a global initiative of the World Health Organization aiming to provide equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Read more: Exhausted nurses toil across wards in South Africa full of virus cases
Although the number of infections in Africa has waned compared to other regions, the increase in cases has raised fears that the pathogen could spread faster in a continent that is not prepared for it.
Hospitals across Africa, from South Africa to Senegal and Zimbabwe, are struggling with an increase in infections that is overwhelming for health care providers who already lack beds, basic equipment and staff.
Nigeria has officially reported 107,345 cases, with 1,413 deaths, but tests are not easily accessible to most people, with so far only about 1.1 million.
– Assisted by Alonso Soto
(Updates with Mamora comments, Covax refers from third paragraph.)