FG Debunks Claim WHO Rejected Nigeria’s Bid For Pfizer Vaccine

The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has debunked claims that the World Health Organisation (WHO) rejected Nigeria’s bid to procure the Pfizer vaccine.

The task force disclosed this on it’s official Twitter page on Saturday, disclaiming the reports as “Fake News”.

A national daily had reported on Saturday that WHO had rejected Nigeria’ bid to procure the Pfizer vaccine over alleged poor storage facility.

The report quoted WHO’s regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, as saying Nigeria lagged in certain criteria while considering its ability to store the vaccine at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

The report said other factors the organization considered include mortality rates of the countries as well as new cases and trends.

Moeti, according to the report, said out of 13 countries that expressed interest in the vaccine, only four met the criteria and they include South Africa Cabo Verde, Rwanda, and Tunisia.

Moeti noted that only these four countries were captured in the first supply of 320,000 vaccines out of the 13 that expressed interest.

“In addition, around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries: Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia. Deliveries are also expected later on in February.

“To access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine, countries were invited to submit proposals.

“Thirteen African countries expressed an interest in participating in the initiative, and their proposals were evaluated based on current mortality rates, new cases and trends and capacities to deliver this vaccine, including to store it at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

“I have to say that this was a challenging process as we know all countries want to start vaccinating their populations.

“The supplies were limited but we are glad that we will have a number of countries start and we look forward to working with the other countries to expand this vaccine delivery,” she said.

Recall that the Federal Government had stated its readiness to receive 100,000 doses of the vaccine being donated by COVAX, the global alliance against COVID-19, but was worried over the lack of storage capacity.

The Federal Government had failed to make any provision in the 2021 budget to fund the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines, but reportedly acquired three ultra-cold freezers in anticipation of the vaccine’s arrival.

This exclusion by the WHO may hamper plans by the government to vaccinate 20 per cent of its population in 2021. It may also endanger more lives with the growing numbers of new cases in the country.

The Nigerian government had expressed optimism that the vaccine would help prevent the further spread of the virus and reduce the numbers of persons being infected with the virus.

As of February 6, 2021, the nation has recorded a total of 137,654 confirmed cases and 1,641 deaths.