The Federal Government has said Nigeria may receive COVID-19 vaccines by the end of February.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire made this known while speaking at an inspection tour of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on Saturday, February 21, 2021.
He said, “We are told that by the end of this month, which is about 10 days from now, we shall get the vaccines.
“We do not produce the vaccines. They are manufactured abroad in about four or five countries.”
The minister further said that the US, UK, Russia and China that have succeeded in producing COVID-19 vaccines have started issuing licences to other countries to reproduce them.
He said, “South Africa has a licence to make the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, while Russia only recently gave India the licence to produce AstraZeneca.”
According to him, some of the vaccine-producing countries decided to attend to their needs first because they had serious challenges with COVID-19.
He noted that while the whole world suffered the pangs of the pandemic, about 75 percent of vaccines already produced were being used in 10 countries.
Ehanire emphasised that Nigeria had put all facilities in place to receive the vaccines.
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