In this file photo taken on December 8, 2020 a member of staff draws the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine out of a phial at the Southmead Hospital, Briston. The US Food and Drug Adminstration on December 11, 2020 granted the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine an emergency use authorization, paving the way for its imminent rollout across the country. Graeme Robertson / AFP / POOL
The National Coordinator of Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19 Sani Aliyu says the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to Nigerians free when vaccination begins.
Aliyu made this known on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily.
He also revealed plans by the Nigerian government on delivering and administering the vaccine and gave the assurance that Nigerians will be freely vaccinated.
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“Yesterday, the President gave the PTF the mandate to proceed with preparations with regard to the vaccine.
“The President has also given us a marching order that the COVID-19 vaccine be made available in Nigeria.
“The COVID-19 vaccine will be available in Nigeria making use of the GAVI arrangement. We already have the assurance that we will have 20% of our population accommodated by GAVI, which is about 40 million Nigerians. They won’t need to pay for that (the vaccine),” the PTF coordinator said.
He added that although there are fears that Nigerians may be reluctant to receive shots of the vaccines, efforts are being made to sensitise many and deliver the vaccines across the country.
“We have continued to work with the Federal Ministry of Health and Primary Healthcare Development Agency. The NPHCDA has a lot of experience in delivering vaccines across the country. They were involved with the polio vaccination and even at the moment, they are responsible for the delivery of the growth in child vaccination across the country, so they have a lot of experience.
“A lot of work is going on behind the scene. The NPHCDA has a committee, the Minister has set up an advisory committee and the PTF is now coming in to make sure we coordinate effectively.
“The biggest challenge we will have with the vaccine is not going to be the logistics, the biggest challenge will be the public acceptance of the safety of the vaccines and allowing themselves to be vaccinated, the challenge will be very similar to the one we have with polio,” he added.
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