MTN Donates 1.4m AstraZeneca Vaccine To Nigeria

Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, says the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) has informed his ministry of the free allocation of 1.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Nigeria.

Speaking at the press briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Monday, Ehanire said 500,000 doses of the vaccine are expected in Nigeria by the end of February.

He disclosed that Nigeria got the allocation courtesy of MTN donation of 7 million doses to Africa.

The minister added that the balance of 900,000 doses for Nigeria is expected by the end of March 2021.

Ehanire also disclosed that India informed him of its intention to gift 100,000 AstraZeneca or covishield vaccine doses to Nigeria.

He maintained that relevant agencies must approve the use of vaccines before they can be used in Nigeria because all COVID-19 vaccines “carry a certain amount of risk”.

“The National Agency For Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has received dossiers for Sputnik V vaccine of Russia, Covishield or Astra Zeneca manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India, Covaxin by Bharat vaccines of India and the Sinopharm Vaccine of China, for evaluation and validation for use in Nigeria. Some of them are nearly ready for results,” the minister said.

Stephen Jesuwale

Jesuwale Stephen is a journalist who finished from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism. He is a distinctive writer, media strategist and also a Digital Marketer