Chidi Samuel| The Federal Government on Tuesday said the private sector is not allowed to import COVID-19 vaccines, adding that all vaccines must come through the government.
Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, who made the disclosure while featuring on a PUNCH Live interview, said private sector participation of the vaccine distribution was not allowed at the moment and the government won’t be responsible for any outcome of such “backdoor channel”.
“Before any vaccine will be given by any manufacturer, there must have been an indemnity clause and that is why we made it clear that any vaccine that does not come in through the right government channel, we will not allow it because if it is not coming in through government, we cannot take responsibility for it, Mamora said.
“We have been making this clear to everyone and we are not inclined to at this point allow private sector participation in terms of bringing in the vaccines unless private sector is going to pay into the account of the Afrexim Bank and then the vaccines can then be supplied from the source that we can verify and that we know.”
“The government is going to be responsible for the indemnity signed and that is why we are not making it compulsory. It is not compulsory but it is desirable that people take the vaccine,” the minister added.
Nigeria, following the approval for use in the country, rolled out its vaccination programme against the highly contagious coronavirus infection on Friday with about four million doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were vaccinated against the virus on Saturday on Live TV.
Nigerians who wish to receive the vaccines are enjoined to register on the website of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
-Nigeria confirms 346 new infections with 6 deaths
Meanwhile, Nigeria on Tuesday confirmed 346 new cases of #COVID19 with 6 deaths.
The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control in a statement late on Tuesday night said the new infections were recorded in 20 states and the FCT.
According to the updates, Lagos the epicentre of the pandemic recorded 86 new cases, followed by Bauchi-64,
Kaduna-26, Kwara-26, FCT-24, Rivers-23, Plateau-22, and Ogun-16.
Other states with new cases include, Ebonyi-14, Bayelsa-12, Cross River-10, Edo-8, Akwa Ibom-5, Ekiti-3, Gombe-2, Kano-2, Osun-2, and Delta-1.
The health agency further revealed that so far, Nigeria has 159,252 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with 139,056 recoveries and 1,988 fatalities.
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