COVID-19 Vaccine – Nigeria’s Procurement Suffers Setback Over Budget Delay
The Federal Ministry of Health has yet to submit a budget proposal to the National Assembly for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines over one month after the legislative arm of government asked the ministry to do so. This has begun to spark fears that the delay may affect the procurement of the much awaited vaccines. The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, had on December 22, 2020 told the Senate that the Federal Government would need about N400bn to vaccinate 70 percent of Nigeria’s population. The Senate leadership subsequently asked Ehanire to bring a budget while they promised to give it quick consideration. But the Minister of State for Health Dr Olorunnibe Mamora, said calculations were still being done, hence the delay in the submission of the budget. Mamora said Nigeria had yet to decide on what brand of vaccines would be procured but said he was confident that once the budget is submitted, the National Assembly would give it swift approval. He said Nigeria would take delivery of 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in February while the African Union had also approved millions of doses for the country. Mamora said it was easier for smaller countries to get the vaccines than it was for larger countries like Nigeria with a population of over 200 million. The minister said the third factor responsible for the delay was the various engaments and negotiations that were ongoing between Nigeria and other countries producing COVID-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile African countries had begun administering COVID-19 vaccines to their citizens. The countries include Morocco, Guinea, Seychelles and Mauritius while South Africa and Egypt had already received a combined 6.5 million doses. The leadership of the World Health Organisation, Africa region, said hopefully by the middle of February, the COVAX Facility which is a Gavi coordinated pooled procurement mechanism for developing COVID-19 vaccines and ensuring fair and equitable access, would make vaccines available to other African nations.
In addition, as Nigeria awaits the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, a public health physician, says the country may not get any of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. According to him, over 60 percent of vaccines produced have already been bought by Western countries through advanced purchase agreements that give them automatic access as the vaccines are being produced. “All the Moderna vaccine production for this year has been bought, while 94 percent of Pfizer vaccine has been bought as well. The attempt by the World Health Organisation to buy for 94 African countries under the COVAX alliance is not even guaranteed.”
