First January, now March… how FG changed delivery date of COVID-19 vaccine

More than once, the federal government has changed the delivery date of the COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria.

On Wednesday, Ghana emerged as the first African country to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine — despite Nigeria’s higher infections and casualties figure.

According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control, as at February 22, Ghana recorded a total of 80,253 infections, with 577 deaths and 73,018 recoveries. Meanwhile, Nigeria recorded 152,074 infections, 1,839 deaths, and 128,619 recoveries in the same period.

#COVID19 update in Africa as of 22/02/2021 at 6 PM EAT. Cases — 3,830,631, Deaths – 101,350 and Recoveries –3,383,956.
More at https://t.co/7xkrFH4etK#AfricaResponds #TestTraceTreat #FactsNotFear pic.twitter.com/4jYymO6oNE

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— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) February 22, 2021

VACCINE DELIVERY DATE KEEPS CHANGING

On December 16, the federal government had said Nigerians will start receiving vaccines by January 2021.

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, had said the government was working towards getting them “as soon as they are available”.

“We signed up for advanced market participation in COVAX. So, if we will be able to get our own, I think it will be in January,” he had said.

COVAX, which is co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), was launched in 2020 to mobilise resources for innovative and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments and vaccines.

Prior to the health minister’s remarks, a statement released by the ministry of foreign affairs quoted Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, chair of the board of GAVI, as saying “most of the African countries, Nigeria included, will be able to get access to some of these vaccines” by the end of January.

On January 5, Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), also spoke in the same vein.

He said Nigeria will receive at least 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved vaccines.

While the news raised optimism among Nigerians and other stakeholders, especially healthcare workers, the hope would soon falter following a fresh announcement.

Speaking at an inspection tour of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Ehanire said Nigeria may receive COVID-19 vaccines by the end of February, indicating a delay.

DELIVERY OF VACCINES ‘NOT IN OUR HANDS’

And just when February seemed like a done deal, Ehanire on Wednesday said Nigeria may start taking delivery of its COVID-19 vaccine supply from March, representing another setback.

Speaking after the weekly federal executive council (FEC) meeting, the minister admitted that the supply of COVID-19 vaccines does not lie in the hands of the government.

“It is the hand of the person who is bringing it to us,” Ehanire said.

Commenting on the delay in receiving the COVAX vaccine despite assurances of getting it in February, he said: “Now, the COVAX will start delivering to African countries before the end of February. That’s what they told us. But they didn’t tell us which country is first or which is second, which is third.

“So, COVAX begins to deliver before the end of February. And we hope that before the end of this month, it would be our turn or latest by beginning of next month.”

Given the latest announcement, it is hard to bank on a particular date when Nigerians will eventually start receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. For now, the best thing to do is to stay safe and masked-up, hoping they arrive soon.