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The United States has announced the arrival of 3,577,860 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Nigeria in continuation of its partnership with the federal government to combat the COVID-19 scourge in Nigeria.
The U.S. Mission in Nigeria said that the arrival of the vaccine on Thursday would enhance Nigerians’ access to the medication, while promoting public health.
The current shipment brings the total number of “U.S.-bilaterally donated doses to Nigeria to over 7.5 million,the mission said in a statement,adding that the United States also contributed to the first multilateral donation of AstraZeneca vaccine in March 2021, with COVAX providing over 10 million doses of the vaccine to the country, to date.
It maintained that safe and effective vaccines are our best tool to ending the pandemic; noting that the United States “has pledged to purchase and donate 1.1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses worldwide, and to date has delivered more than 180 million doses to more than 100 countries.
“The United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that we have demonstrated at home. We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic.To date, the U.S. government has provided $130 million of support to Nigeria’s Ministry of Health and Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, as it is “looking forward to continued coordination with Nigeria and its Center for Disease Control to deliver life-saving doses across the country through the COVAX initiative.”
Meanwhile,the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has concluded plans for the establishment of mass vaccination sites across the country.
Executive Director of the agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaibu,explained that the gesture was in line with the agency commitment to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
He spoke at a press conference in Abuja on the progress of the vaccination exercise across the federation.
He said: “The objective of this strategy is to vaccinate a high volume of individuals through large sites such as Federal institutions (universities, polytechnics), shopping malls, religious centers, sporting events, conference centers, and markets etc.
“This will require strong collaboration between NPHCDA, State Governments, religious bodies, school authorities and governing bodies of malls and large sporting events. As we expand the vaccination sites, we encourage all eligible Nigerians to avail themselves for vaccination.
“I am also glad to inform you that we have commenced the process of decentralizing COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria, to include private health care providers. This is to expand access and increase utilization of the vaccines.
“The decentralization will not affect the Federal Government’s free vaccination policy. COVID-19 vaccines will be administered free of charge at both government and private health facilities and the vaccination cards should be given free of charge after vaccination. We acknowledge the fact that private health facilities may need to charge for their hospital registration cards which is different from the COVID-19 vaccination cards”.
He continued: “To ensure a seamless decentralization, we have begun the training of health workers in the selected private health care facilities and the sensitization of critical stakeholders to create awareness and sensitize them on the plan and the criteria for involving private sector in COVID-19 vaccination and secure their buy-in. The process of involving the private sector will be transparently done in line with our pledge of accountability to Nigerians.
” Let me quickly assure you that NPHCDA is putting measures in place to ensure close and effective monitoring and supervision of any participating private health facilities to ensure standards are not compromised. Interested private health facilities will be required to meet certain criteria including having the requisite qualified health care workers, among others.
“To ensure that the vaccines are delivered by private health facilities as expected, we will be engaging in regular supervisory visits to the facilities and will be providing clear rules of engagement to the participating facilities. We solicit your support as the watchdogs of society, to ensure that this decentralization does not compromise the current high quality of our COVID-19 vaccination programme. Any erring facilities will be sanctioned, including blacklisting.
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