By Felix Onuah
ABUJA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Nigeria will seek to procure
vaccines that are less dependent on cooling facilities, the head
of the country's primary healthcare agency said on Tuesday,
adding that talks were in progress with Russia and India to
procure such vaccines.
Africa's most populous country, where officials recorded low
coronavirus numbers through much of 2020, is in its second wave
of infections and has seen cases surge in recent weeks.
Nigerian health authorities have said the country is working
with the COVAX programme backed by the World Health Organization
(WHO) that aims to provide vaccines to poorer countries.
Faisal Shuaib, who heads the National Primary Health Care
Development Agency, has said Nigeria expects to receive 100,000
doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by early February under the
scheme. The vaccine must be stored at ultra-low temperatures.
"Our plan now is not to over-invest on ultra cold equipment
for vaccines like that of Pfizer vaccines, but go for vaccines
that need less cooling facilities," Shuaib told reporters in the
capital, Abuja, during a tour of cold storage facilities.
"We are currently engaged in talks with Russia and India to
get more vaccines," Shuaib said, restating the target of
vaccinating 70% of Nigeria's 200 million inhabitants within the
next two years.
Shuaib did not provide details of quantities discussed and
said vaccines would require certification by Nigeria's drugs
regulator.
Other obstacles were also likely. The World Health
Organization's pandemic review panel co-chair Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf expressed disappointment on Tuesday in COVID-19 vaccine
rollout plans which meant shots would not be widely available in
Africa until 2022 or 2023. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at temperatures of around
-70 degrees Celsius (-112°F) before being sent to distribution
centres in specially designed cool boxes filled with dry ice.
Once out of ultra-low temperature storage, it must be kept at 2C
to 8C to remain effective for up to five days.
Some experts have expressed doubts that Nigerian authorities
will be able to store and transport the vaccine at such low
temperatures.
The health minister on Monday said Nigeria had written to
the African Union requesting 10 million vaccine doses, and
allocated $26 million for licensed vaccine production.
As of Tuesday, Nigeria had recorded 112,004 COVID-19 cases
resulting in 1,449 deaths.