COVID-19: Nigeria, Canada Launch $9.26m Vaccine Intervention Initiative

Onyebucho Ezigbo in Abuja

The federal government and Canada yesterday, unveiled an initiative targeted at promoting COVID-19 vaccine uptake in 15 states across the country.

Canada Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity otherwise known as CanGIVE is a two-year grant of $9, 261,920 from Global Affairs Canada to WHO to support the scale-up of COVID-19 vaccine service delivery amongst higher priority risk groups and strengthen health systems in Nigeria.

Speaking during the launch of the initiative, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr. Faisal Shuaib, said 15 low performing states in the COVID-19 vaccination exercise would be the target of the implementation of the project.

He listed states targeted for implementation to include Ondo, Rivers, Kogi, Delta, Ebonyi, Lagos, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Benue, Ogun, Katsina, Taraba, Anambra, Kebbi, and Edo.

“This grant targets states with lower performance and aims to reach high-priority populations. The grant, to be implemented through the World Health Organisation (WHO), will also contribute to strengthening the health system, addressing service delivery inequities and gender disparities at the sub-national level.

“We are confident that WHO will continue to support Nigeria’s efforts to enhance vaccine delivery, distribution, and public confidence, as well as generate demand,” he said.

While giving an update on vaccination uptake in Nigeria, Shuaib said the country had reached over 75 per cent of the target population of individuals aged 18 and above with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the NPHCDA boss, Nigeria has been able to administer over 87 million of her citizens with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine so far.

He said Nigeria was among the first countries to establish an electronic registry and integrate COVID-19 vaccination with other primary healthcare services.

“Our “One Country, One Team, One Plan, One Budget” approach reflects our commitment to integrating lessons learned during and after the pandemic into our healthcare system.

“While we have made significant progress, we still have work to do. Several states have primary series coverage below 70 percent, and booster doses account for just over 20 percent of vaccinations,” he said.

Head of Mission and Representative WHO Country Representative in Nigeria Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo said the Canadian grant came at the right time to help improve coverage and uptake of the vaccine among the priority populations in line with the current WHO SAGE roadmap on uses of COVID-19 vaccines.

As part of the measures to fast track vaccination in lower performing countries, Mulombo suggested the lowering the age limit for COVID vaccination.

Canadian High Commissioner for Nigeria Jamie Christoff,  said the grant would enable WHO Country office provide technical support to strengthen health systems, increase COVID-19 vaccine demand generation and uptake in an integrated mode with routine immunization and other vaccination programme

He said in partnership with the WHO, UNICEF, and the Pan- American Health Organization and Medicines Patent Pool, CanGIVE was designed to achieve three objectives: to strengthen COVID-19 vaccine delivery systems and community outreach to reach high priority and marginalised groups; to enhance integration of COVID-19 vaccines into routine health services in a way that strengthens the broader health system, including to increase gender-responsiveness, and to scale up regional vaccine production capacity to bring manufacturing closer to populations in need.