Nigeria Assured Of 41 Million Additional COVID-19 Vaccine Doses – Minister

The federal government has secured additional 41 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for Nigerians, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, confirmed on Thursday.

It is understood that the additional doses were part of the allocation for Nigeria from the ones secured by the African Union (AU) to help countries across the continent.

The Minister, however, said the date for the delivery of the vaccines was not certain yet.

“We do not have an exact date,” Dr Ehanire said during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today. “The date it comes out depends on when the manufacturers are able to deliver, and that is not something that any country can enforce at this time.”

On the 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines expected from the WHO-backed Covax sharing facility, Ehanire also disclosed that they are now expected in the country by February instead of the earlier date of January.

He explained that the change in date is not the government’s fault as only manufacturers are responsible for the delivery dates.

“The timelines are not in the hands of the recipient,” the Minister noted.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported 1,861 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria.

Naija News reports that the new cases were reported in a post on the disease control agency’s Twitter handle on Wednesday night, January 27, 2021.

The newly reported cases bring the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria to 126,160 which includes 100,365 discharged cases and 1,544 deaths.