Fayemi: 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine expected in 2021

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state, says the country is expecting 80 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.

Fayemi, who is the chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, stated this while delivering a paper titled: “The Role of Nigeria’s State Governments in Recovery: Responses to COVID-19 Linked Challenges”.

The paper was delivered at the Chatham House Africa programme, which was held virtually on Tuesday.

The governor noted that the 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine are expected to cover 40 percent of the population, while the country will work towards securing additional 60 million doses for 2022.

“Just last week, the NGF invited experts to brief governors on vaccine procurement and administration. We had a National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, where the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) shared the plans around vaccines procurement,” he said.

“We expect about 80 million doses of vaccines would be available in 2021 to cover 40 percent of the population, while another 60 million doses are being planned for 2022.”

TheCable had reported that Nigeria secured the first batch of 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility, which is co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and GAVI Alliance. The vaccines were earlier expected in January, but will now be delivered to the country in February.

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, had also confirmed, on Monday, that the country has been allocated additional 41 million doses through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), a strategy organised by the African Union.

According to Fayemi, state governors are also supporting partnerships with the private sector, as part of efforts to ensure that the country effectively tackles the pandemic.

“Beyond government’s procurement of vaccines, we at the NGF are also strong proponents of the utilisation of public-private partnerships in vaccines procurement, as a means of closing the gap between what is available and what is necessary to achieve herd immunity,” he added.