Nigeria’s inability to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius has led to its disqualification from bidding for the Pfizer vaccines by the World Health Organisation-led COVAX global initiative.
The Nigerian government had stated earlier that it was expecting 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative, which was set up to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.
The Director, WHO, African Region, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, at a virtual conference announced that out of thirteen African countries that applied only four were shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccine
The decision was based on the WHO avoiding the risk of wastage of the vaccines.
READ ALSO: Nigerian Newspapers: Latest Business News Headlines For Today February 6, 2021
She said, “Around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia. This vaccine has received WHO Emergency Use Listing but requires countries to be able to store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
“To access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine, countries were invited to submit proposals. Thirteen African countries submitted proposals and were evaluated by a multi-agency committee based on current mortality rates, new cases and trends, and the capacity to handle the ultra-cold chain needs of the vaccine.
“This announcement allows countries to fine-tune their planning for COVID-19 immunization campaigns. We urge African nations to ramp up readiness and finalize their national vaccine deployment plans. Regulatory processes, cold chain systems, and distribution plans need to be in place to ensure vaccines are safely expedited from ports of entry to delivery. We can’t afford to waste a single dose.”
The Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Prof Babatunde Salako, had disclosed that the country currently lacked the capacity to store the Pfizer vaccines at the required temperature.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib argued otherwise, describing the claim as false. He stated that igeria has adequate storage for the vaccines and had taken journalists on a tour of the facility in Abuja.
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Foreign Capital Inflow Dips By Nearly 60 Percent
Nigeria was expected to be on the list of African countries to receive the first set of Pfizer vaccines following the rapid increase in its rate of infection which is now the sixth-highest on the continent.
Only South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia have higher infection rates than Nigeria. But Morocco and Egypt have already independently obtained vaccines and begun distribution while South Africa, which has the highest burden of the disease in Africa, has already procured one million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, produced in India but has yet to begin distribution.
