Nigeria to receive 10 million vaccine doses in March – FG

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire on Thursday said Nigeria will receive 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccine in March.

Ehanire in a statement, disclosed that the vaccines add to 100,000 expected doses of Pfizer vaccine.

However, the statement did not specify which type of vaccine would be used for the 10 million doses.

Also, it is unclear whether the batch would be financed by the African Union or as part of COVAX, which links the World Health Organization with private partners to work for pooled procurement and equitable distribution.

So far, Nigeria has officially reported 104,000 Covid-19 cases, with 1,382 deaths.

But these figures are believed to fall short of the real toll, since the number of tests is low.

Cases have risen sharply since the end of November, notably in the economic capital Lagos, a city of about 20 million people. The death rate has also increased.

Meanwhile, the challenges of transporting and storing vaccines for many millions of people are enormous in a country where adequate hospital facilities are lacking.