Nigeria, the most populous country on the African continent, announced on Thursday that it would receive 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in March.
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“10 million doses in addition to the 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine already announced are expected in the country (…) in March,” said Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire in an official statement.
The government did not specify which company would provide these doses, or whether they were those funded by the Covax device, the World Health Organization (WHO) and private partners, for equitable access to vaccines, or by the African Union (AU).
Nigeria, which has a population of around 200 million, has officially recorded some 104,000 cases of coronavirus, including 1,382 deaths.
But these figures are underestimated, the number of tests carried out being low.
The country, and in particular its economic capital Lagos, populated by about 20 million inhabitants, has seen a significant increase in cases and deaths since the end of November.
In addition, a variant of the coronavirus has been discovered in recent months in the country, but research is still ongoing to determine if it is more contagious and deadly.
The authorities recently announced that they hope to vaccinate 40% of the population by 2021.
But the challenges to transport, store and vaccinate millions of people in this country, which is sorely lacking in hospital structures, are immense.