By Princess-Ekwi Ajide Abuja
The United States government has announced its plans to surge resources to Nigeria through the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access (Global VAX) to boost access to COVID-19 vaccination.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Atul Gawande, who made the announcement, said it is part of the announcement made in December 2021, that the U.S. government would provide additional $315 million for Global VAX, bringing the total of U.S. government’s commitment to vaccine readiness and delivery to more than $1.7 billion stressing that Global VAX augments the U.S. government’s international vaccine support in Nigeria.
Dr. Gawande told the Abuja Ports to Arms Conference that, “the Nigerian government has shown its commitment to increasing the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, and the United States is proud to partner with her, hence the launch of the important initiative to boost global vaccination rates adding that the U.S. has already supplied over 21.7 million doses of COVAX to Nigeria as well as technical and logistical support.
He called on other countries to engage further and contribute expertise and resources to identify and rapidly overcome vaccine access barriers experienced by communities around the world, especially in Africa.
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Mary Beth Leonard on her part, said they are pleased to have a close partnership with the Government of Nigeria on the COVID-19 response and given the progress Nigeria has made, and the potential to make significant, additional advancement, they are pleased to surge more resources to help rapidly increase vaccination rates.
According to her, since 2020, the United States has provided $143 million to support Nigeria’s COVID-19 response and ss part of Global VAX, USAID plans to provide an additional $33.3 million in Nigeria to support activities that may include bolstering cold chain supply and logistics, addressing vaccine confidence and demand, and increasing the accessibility of vaccination sites.
Global VAX will also support Nigeria’s existing vaccination plans, and help get vaccines to people quickly, safely, and equitably.
Global VAX is a whole-of-U.S.-government’s effort to accelerate vaccine uptake towards the global goal to vaccinate 70 percent of the world population against COVID-19 in 2022.
