Govs to meet Thursday on COVID-19 vaccines, distribution

The governors of the 36 states in Nigeria, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), will on Thursday meet over the COVID-19 vaccines and distribution in the country.

The governors, in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by Mr Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, the Head, Media and Public Affairs of NGF Secretariat, said the emergency meeting would be held virtually.

“The meeting is of a single-item agenda, which will discuss the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines and their distribution in the country,” he said.

Bello-Barkindo said the meeting, according to the invitations sent to the governors, would commence at 5 p.m.

It will be recalled that the Federal Government had on Tuesday in Abuja received 3.92 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine was shipped into Nigeria via the COVAX Facility, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO.

COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), working in partnership with UNICEF, the World Bank, Civil Society Organisations, manufacturers and others.

The federal government had also launched a website to register Nigerians for the  vaccination.