Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said Nigeria would receive 84 million doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine this year.
Nigeria had already taken delivery of about four million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu, the Vice President spoke during a virtual Chatham House interactive session on Tuesday themed “Priorities for Nigeria’s post-COVID recovery.”
The statement was titled “How Buhari administration’s ESP helped Nigeria tackle COVID-19 challenges -Osinbajo.”
Osinbajo was said to have highlighted the government’s efforts through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the regime also prioritised the strengthening of the country’s public health infrastructure.
Osinbajo also called for global action in ensuring access to vaccines, especially in poorer countries.
He said, “There are justifiable concerns, in my view, about the certainty of fair and equitable access to vaccines, as well as the likelihood that poorer countries would be left behind if the distribution of these vaccines is determined by the nationalistic sentiments.
“As part of our recovery efforts, Nigeria has taken delivery of about four million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines under the international COVAX scheme and we have commenced vaccination of our people.
“This year, we will receive 84 million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine under that same scheme, which would be enough to vaccinate about 20 per cent of our population.”
He said Nigeria’s priorities in a post-COVID-19 world included restoring economic growth in the immediate term, building resilience in the health sector, and repositioning the economy on a sustainable footing in the medium term while saving jobs and building domestic capacity and local production in critical areas.
Punch