The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declined to shortlist Nigeria for the limited Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines being expected to be delivered to African countries this month. This is because of the country’s failure to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius. According to WHO only four countries out of 13 African countries (Nigeria inclusive) that expressed interest and submitted proposals will be receiving the limited 320,000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. The four countries are – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia. The United Nations Agency, while urging the other countries not shortlisted for the vaccines to fine-tune their planning for covid-19 immunization campaigns, stressed that it cannot afford to waste a single dose of these vaccines.
However, speaking at a virtual press conference, the Director, WHO, African Region, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, disclosed that just four African countries were shortlisted out of the 13 that applied.
“Nearly 90 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could start arriving on the continent later this month. This is subject to WHO listing the vaccine for emergency use. The review is ongoing, and its outcome is expected very soon,”
Moeti said.
“In addition around 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia.
“Deliveries are also expected later in February. To access an initial limited volume of Pfizer vaccine, countries were invited to submit proposals. 13 African countries expressed an interest in participating in this initiative, and their proposals were evaluated based on, among others current mortality rates, new cases and trends, and capacity to store the vaccine at – 70 degrees Celsius.
“Africa has indeed watched other regions start covid-19 vaccination campaigns a little bit from the sidelines for too long. This planned rollout is a critical first step in ensuring that the continent gets equitable access to vaccines. This COVAX announcement by WHO, GAVI, and CEPI allow countries to fine-tune their planning for covid-19 Immunization campaigns.
“So we urge and are ready to support African nations to ramp up readiness and finalize their national vaccine deployment plans. Planning for the vaccination campaigns, including putting in place strategies to engage communities will be critical. We cannot afford to waste a single dose of these vaccines,” Moeti added.
“This vaccine has received WHO Emergency Use Listing but requires countries to be able to store and distribute doses at minus 70 degrees Celsius.”
The Nigerian government had said it is expecting to take delivery of 100,000 doses through the COVAX initiative.
 "Dubai Submerged In Flood")