By Aiyeku Timothy
Former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has stated that Nigeria and other African countries will have access to COVID-19 vaccines from the end of January 2021 through the first quarter of 2021.
Okonjo-Iweala made this assertion after a closed-door meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in Abuja.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted Okonjo-Iweala as saying “As long as one person has it in the world, no one is safe. And that is why poorer countries, lower middle-income countries like Nigeria, need to get it as quickly as possible.”
According to her, negotiations are ongoing for the Pfizer vaccine and AstraZeneca so that they can be accessible to poor countries, just like their rich counterparts.
Okonjo-Iweala, therefore, expressed relief that Nigeria did not have the same incidence rate of COVID-19 as other continents.
Meanwhile, British health officials on Wednesday warned against the Pfizer vaccine for patients with a history of significant allergic reactions after members of the state-run National Health Service (NHS) who were among the first to receive the vaccine on Tuesday suffered allergic reactions and needed treatment.
