For failing to meet the standard requirement to store the COVID-19 vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius, the World Health Organisation-led COVAX global initiative has disqualified Nigeria from the Pfizer vaccines bid.
The WHO’s Director of African Region, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said during a virtual press conference on Friday that only four African countries were shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccine out of the 13 that applied.
Moeti said WHO could not risk the Pfizer vaccines being wasted.
The Nigerian government had said it was expected to receive 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative this month, which was set up to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.
Several health experts have said that Nigeria does not have enough facilities at the moment to store the Pfizer vaccines at that temperature.
Moeti said, around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries, Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia.
He said, “to access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine, countries were invited to submit proposals. Thirteen African countries submitted proposals and were evaluated by a multi-agency committee based on current mortality rates, new cases and trends, and the capacity to handle the ultra-cold chain needs of the vaccine.
“This announcement allows countries to fine-tune their planning for COVID-19 immunisation campaigns. We urge African nations to ramp up readiness and finalise their national vaccine deployment plans. Regulatory processes, cold chain systems and distribution plans need to be in place to ensure vaccines are safely expedited from ports of entry to delivery. We can’t afford to waste a single dose.”
