Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has said his administration was in talks with manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Lagos has recorded 35,804 cases, making it the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria.
The governor said: “We have started a conversation with some of the vaccine manufacturers.
“Pfizer for example, I have made contact with them, Johnson and Johnson are not out yet, the Moderna has written to us and we have written back to them.”
According to Sanwo-Olu, part of the funding for the purchase of vaccines will be sourced from the private sector.
He added: “The conversations are still at various levels. “We are speaking with the organised private sector so they can help us raise some of the finance that is required.
“We have our friends in the private sector who are saying to us that they understand this is a public health issue but we also can work with you. The citizens are your citizens but they also are our staff.”
The governor further noted that the state is only looking to vaccinate about 50 to 60 percent of the population in order to achieve herd immunity against the virus.
“We don’t have to vaccinate the 20 or 22 million population that we have,” he said. “The plan is to ensure that there is herd immunity and that typically demands about 50 to 60 percent of your population”, he stressed.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said 360 new cases of the virus were recorded on Sunday in Lagos.