The doses of Covid-19 vaccines in possession of the Nigerian Government has been augmented following the delivery of another set of 300,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to the country today.
The doses are said to be first batch of the Covid-19 vaccines designated to Nigeria by the African Union out of a total of 1.4 million doses
This development was contained in a statement issued by MTN today, titled, ‘First set of MTN donation of 1.4 million doses of vaccines received by Nigeria’
According to the statement, the MTN Group had contributed $25m for the procurement of the vaccines.
It added that the vaccines are a combination of doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility and from the AU COVID-19 vaccination programme.
The statement said the vaccines would be distributed amongst health workers in Nigeria by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.
Speaking on the development on behalf of the health care workers, the Director-General of the NPHDA, Faisal Shuaib, commended the efforts of the Nigerian government and the AU, as well as MTN for its collaboration.
Faisal said the arrival of the vaccines is a major step, and he advocated for more collaborations, imploring organisations to join the drive for the Nigerian people.
Also speaking, DG of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, expressed appreciation on behalf of the government.
He said, “The donation of COVID-19 vaccines is truly helpful, and we are grateful. We can only succeed against COVID-19 when we fight together.
“These vaccines will go a long way in protecting health workers, who are on the frontline, and need all the protection they can get at this critical moment, hence the prioritisation of their vaccinations.”
Emphasising the power of partnership and collaboration, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, explained that the ongoing threat of Covid-19 required a vast and accelerated effort by both the private and public sectors.
“I thank the Nigerian government and the AU for the opportunity they granted MTN to collaborate and contribute towards the delivery of these vaccines. We are truly privileged to have been able to play our part in contributing towards government’s efforts to protect and save lives,” he added.
