Nigeria and eight other countries have been excluded from WHO led COVAX global initiative.
With the exclusion, these countries are not shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccines . The exclusion is due to Nigeria’s inability to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius.
The Nigerian government had stated that it was expected to receive 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative, which was set up to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.
At a virtual press conference, the Director, WHO, African Region, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said only four African countries were shortlisted for the Pfizer vaccine out of the 13 that applied.
Moeti said WHO could not risk the Pfizer vaccines being wasted.
She said, “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.”
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Nigeria was expected to be on the list of African countries to receive the first set of Pfizer vaccines because of its rate of infection which is now the sixth-highest on the continent.
Only South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Ethiopia have higher infection rates than Nigeria. But Morocco and Egypt have already independently obtained vaccines and begun distribution while South Africa, which has the highest burden of the disease in Africa, has already procured one million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, produced in India but has yet to begin distribution.
Nigeria has, however, received no COVID-19 vaccine even as its rate of infection has continued to surge.
Unlike the other vaccines on the market, the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, which has the highest WHO rating, is expected to be stored at 70 degrees Celsius which Nigeria could not meet.
However, the WHO regional director said countries that failed to make the Pfizer list could get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine later in the month although it has not yet been endorsed by the health organization.
It was learnt that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine does not need to be stored in a cold facility.
Moeti said, “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.”
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