The World Health Organisation-led COVAX global initiative has excluded Nigeria for the Pfizer vaccines for its inability to meet the standard storage requirement of 70 degrees Celsius.
With the development, Nigeria’s expectation of receiving 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative has had a hitch.
Africa’s regional director of WHO, Dr Matshidiso Moeti during a virtual conference, said only four African countries were shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccine out of the 13 that applied and that the organisation could not risk wasting the Pfizer vaccines.
The 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia on condition of being stored at -70 degrees Celsius.
“To access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine, countries were invited to submit proposals. Thirteen African countries submitted proposals and were evaluated by a multi-agency committee based on current mortality rates, new cases, and trends, and the capacity to handle the ultra-cold chain needs of the vaccine.”
Following this rule, Nigeria could not be listed in the COVAX global initiative for the Pfizer vaccines because it failed to meet the standard requirement.
“Around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia. This vaccine has received WHO Emergency Use Listing but requires countries to be able to store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
“To access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine, countries were invited to submit proposals. Thirteen African countries submitted proposals and were evaluated by a multi-agency committee based on current mortality rates, new cases, and trends, and the capacity to handle the ultra-cold chain needs of the vaccine.
“This announcement allows countries to fine-tune their planning for COVID-19 immunization campaigns. We urge African nations to ramp up readiness and finalize their national vaccine deployment plans. Regulatory processes, cold chain systems, and distribution plans need to be in place to ensure vaccines are safely expedited from ports of entry to delivery. We can’t afford to waste a single dose.
“Nearly 90 million of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could start arriving on the continent later this month. This is subject to the WHO listing the vaccine for emergency use. The review is ongoing and its outcome is expected very soon,” Moeti said.
