Nigeria is working with global health and research organizations that are developing COVID-19 vaccines and would benefit from the two billion vaccine doses as soon as they are available, according to Channels TV report.
Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health stated this during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Thursday.
Ehanire also said that Nigeria was working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to finalize enrolment with the ACT – Access To COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a global mechanism tracking and sponsoring global organizations working on the coronavirus vaccine development.
The minister said: “We also have an interest in the COVAX Facility, which is a Gavi-supported initiative to procure and assure equitable access to vaccines as soon as they are available, especially for lower-income countries.
“This will prioritize Nigeria for allocation of a part of 2 billion vaccine doses that will be secured in a special plan to protect the interest of poorer countries.
“As of Wednesday night, Nigeria has recorded over 50,000 COVID-19 infections and about 1,000 deaths, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).