Categories: News

COVID-19: We’re Expecting Chinese Vaccine In February – FG

The federal government has said all hands are on deck and it’s making conscious effort towards making sure COVID-19 vaccine is available in the country before the end of February.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He noted that Nigeria is expecting vaccines from People’s Republic of China and from other countries.

He described China as a dependable ally and strategic partner who has come to the aid of Nigeria in the fight against COVID-19.

“What we are engaging with China is in the area of vaccines for COVID-19, so we are also looking to import, to acquire significant vaccines from China and other partners too.

“They have cooperated with us with regards to personal protective equipment and other things in our COVID response.

“So we are now at the stage of the vaccine and we are hoping that we can get some support from them in that area,” said Mr. Onyeama.

The minister said the nation was still looking at other means of getting COVID-19 vaccines, one of which he said, was via the bilateral way.

He also mentioned that Nigeria is also on the framework of the African Union to collectively negotiate for the vaccines as a continent.

“The African Union has made some headway, more than 400 million (doses) is what has been agreed to. So we were hoping that at the end of February we would have started receiving the vaccines.

“But I think almost certainly by the middle of February we should have started receiving,” Mr. Onyeama said.

The federal government opened discussions with China to have access to its COVID-19 vaccines when the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited in January.