The United States has announced the donation of 2.5 million Pfizer vaccine doses to Nigeria, which were received in Abuja this week by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and taken to cold storage in preparation for distribution.
A statement by the U.S Embassy in Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja said that the vaccine would be distributed to over 3,000 health facilities across all the 36 states and FCT-Abuja.
According to the statement, the vaccines will in the next few weeks be available across major locations for vaccination in Nigeria.
“Over the next several weeks, the vaccines will be available at major markets, shopping malls, event centers, motor parks, airports, places of employment, and religious institutions as part of Nigeria’s mass vaccination campaign,” the statement explained.
“The United States has donated more than 13.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with COVAX, or bilaterally to Nigeria.
“Additionally, the United States has provided more than $119 million in COVID-19 related health assistance,” the statement added.
The COVID-19 related health assistance, according to the U.S Embassy, includes a 40-bed mobile field hospital, ventilators, and related training for 88 hospitals, personal protective equipment, technical assistance for vaccine readiness, risk communication, and demand generation for vaccines.
Others are conducting an epidemiological COVID-19 detection and vaccine hesitancy survey, setting up electronic record systems, rapid response teams, training for over 200,000 military and civilian personnel on COVID-19 control measures, and technology for virtual training.
The statement added that the United States is committed to helping end the pandemic in Nigeria and everywhere and also committed to donating more than one billion vaccine doses around the world by early 2022.
This includes African countries primarily through the COVAX initiative. Improving equitable distribution remains a priority for the United States to prevent the emergence of new variants that threaten populations everywhere.
GIK/APA