The Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19 on Wednesday revealed to Nigerians that the vaccine for the deadly coronavirus will be administered free of charge when vaccination commences in Nigeria. National Coordinator of PTF, Sani Aliyu, who made the disclosure on Wednesday, said President Muhammadu Buhari has given the PTF his consent to proceed with preparations with regard to the vaccine. “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).”
“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.”
Meanwhile, a total of one thousand, one hundred thirty-three, 1,133, new cases of COVID-19 infections were recorded in Nigeria Yesterday.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC) Lagos State and FCT recorded the highest numbers of 397 and 357 cases, respectively, while Kaduna State followed with 81 cases.
