By Fortune Ulu
Concerns over poor storage facilities that could lead to Nigeria wasting the expected 100,000 doses of the Pfizer Covid – 19 vaccine have cost the country receiving the vaccine.
The shipment was being expected to arrive Nigeria before the end of February.
The fears led the World Health Organisation-led COVAX global initiative to remove Nigeria from the list of countries eligible for the Pfizer vaccine.
The decision was hinged on the country’s inability to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccine at the required -70 degrees Celsius.
The position was made public on Friday during a virtual press conference by the Director, WHO, African Region, Dr Matshidiso Moeti.
She said said only four African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia – were shortlisted out of the 13 that indicated interest.
According to her, it would be unnecessary for WHO to risk having the vaccine wasted.
She said about 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to the four countries that qualified. The countries are required to be able to store and distribute the doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
Moeti said: “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 immunisation campaigns. We urge African nations to ramp up readiness and finalise 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.”
But there is still hope for Nigeria as the WHO director said countries that failed to make the Pfizer list could get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine later in the month.
It has been learnt that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine may not need to be stored in a cold facility.
Moeti said, “Nearly 90 million of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could start arriving on the continent later this month. This is subject to the WHO listing the vaccine for emergency use. The review is ongoing and its outcome is expected very soon.”
To complement COVAX efforts, the African Union has secured 670 million vaccine doses for the continent which will be distributed in 2021 and 2022 as countries secure adequate financing. The African Export-Import Bank will facilitate payments by providing advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to $2bn to the manufacturers on behalf of countries.
Since the AU will distribute vaccines based on population, Nigeria is expected to receive the highest shipment. However, no date has been announced for the distribution.
