COVID-19: Nigeria to get 80m doses vaccine in 2021 — Governors

 

 

 

 

COVID-19: Nigeria to get 80m doses vaccine in 2021 — Governors

Say vaccine to cover 40% of the population Say approach must shift from emergency response to strengthening the resilience and sustainability of the health system Say by October 2020, testing capacity has expanded to over 70 laboratories across the 36 States, FCT By Henry Umoru – Abuja The thirty- six State Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF have disclosed that the country in this year, 2021, will get a total delivery of 80 million doses of COVID- 19 vaccines to cover 40% of the nation’s population, while another 60 million doses are being planned for next year, 2022.

 

Disclosing this on Tuesday, at Chatham House London, the UK at a Virtual event, Chairman of the NGF and Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi said that beyond the procurement of Vaccines by the Federal government, the State Governors are also strong proponents of the utilisation of public-private partnerships in vaccines procurement as a means of closing the gap between what is available and what is necessary to achieve immunity. Fayemi spoke on the ” Role of Nigeria’s State Governments in Recovery: Responses to COVID- 19 Linked Challenge” The governors have however urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency adopt an approach that would make it move away from emergency response to strengthening the resilience and sustainability of the health system.

 

“In my capacity as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, we quickly developed communications and collaboration plan for all State Governors. We recognised early on that no state in Nigeria is safe until every state is safe. We have met regularly with the NCDC since the beginning of the pandemic, we set up internal committees within the Forum to ensure engagement across various sectors of the response. “Our voices as State Governors is very important, especially when thinking about social challenges like stigma and vaccine hesitancy. We have continued to participate in risk communications activities, to address these challenges and more. We have put out regular press statements, and in our states, funded grassroots risk communications and community mobilisation.

 

 

” Looking forward, Fayemi said, “With discoveries of new strains of the virus, it’s too early to predict the impact. However, we now have about a year’s experience in fighting this. Crises have consequences, often unknown at the outset. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Bretton Woods institutions were created to help rebuild a shattered economy and promote international economic cooperation. As the second world war, the COVID-19 pandemic defines an era. “As we look forward to recovery from the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, our approach must shift from emergency response to strengthening the resilience and sustainability of our health system. We must task ourselves and rethink existing assumptions and facts around financing and delivery of health care in a manner that guarantees we build back better. “This requires adequate funding of the health sector. We have begun to advocate for increased investment in health security and public health emergencies by State Governments. In Ekiti State for example, our capital budget for health in 2021 increased by 250% above 2020 figures. Our new four-year strategy for the health sector has public health security as a major priority. At the NGF, we are recommending that states begin to think about establishing their own Centres for Disease Control.

 

 

“In the medium to long term, we must begin to think strategically about the future of public health security and therefore explore the potential of in-country manufacturing of approved vaccines, following technology transfer. The pandemic is a good reminder of the implications of public health outbreaks on national security. We must take the leap and gain a better level of independence, in the area of vaccine research and development but also in science generally. “Another key point to note is ownership. Public health is not for the health sector alone as is popularly practiced in countries including Nigeria. The COVID-19 pandemic is perhaps our biggest lesson around this, as the pandemic has affected all spheres of the economy. Nigeria now has a National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) that includes a multi-sectoral approach to prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks. Every sector must now contribute to ensuring health security and this is not limited to the provision of funds alone. Many of the determinants of health are outside the health sector, and so we must have multi-sectoral leadership and response to public health emergencies.”

Nigeria News Paper