COVID-19: We’re engaging China for access to vaccine, says FG

The federal government says it is currently engaging China in order to get COVID-19 vaccines for Nigeria.

Geoffery Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, said this on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing reporters after a bilateral meeting with Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister, who is in the country on a working visit.

According to NAN, Onyeama commended China for supporting Nigeria with personal protective equipment (PPE) which helped the country in combating the virus.

“We have received a lot of support from China in the area of personal protective equipment that they were very quick to provide us with and of course, with the vaccine discoveries now,” Onyeama said.

“China is also one of those countries that have been able to discover vaccines for COVID-19, so we are also engaging with China to also help with regards to access to vaccines for our people.”

The minister said Nigeria and China have over 50 years of relationship and both countries have many areas of cooperation to celebrate.

He added that he looked forward to a more improved relationship between the two countries.

“We also realised that in 2021, we would be celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the Peoples Republic of China,” he said.

“In the area of fostering relations, both countries are now considering having a direct flight from Nigeria to China.

“We want to establish direct air link with China. We hope that very soon, a Nigerian carrier would be carrying out scheduled flights to China in the not too distant future.”

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), there are over 90,000 COVID-19 cases in the country.

On Tuesday, Nigeria confirmed 1,200 fresh infections, the highest daily count since the disease broke out in the country in February.