President Muhammadu Buhari has welcomed the inclusion of Nigeria among the six countries in Africa designated as manufacturing bases for the Covid-19 vaccine.please
Expressing delight at the development at the Roundtable on Health Systems and Vaccine Production at the ongoing 6th Europe-Africa Summit, President Buhari called for collaboration to address the effects of the pandemic.
Pointing out that his administration’s call on the development has yielded the desired result, the President said Nigeria would ensure that the best use was made of the opportunity.
He said Nigeria would host the Bio-manufacturing Training hub proposed by World Health Organization, WHO, but called on the EU to support the World Trade Organisation, WTO, towards the conclusion of negotiations on intellectual property rights’ waiver to ensure early start of the manufacturing of vaccines in Africa.
While commending the efforts of the foreign partners in making the Covid-19 vaccine available, he urged them to do more as less than 10 percent of the African population had got the jab, stressing that the situation can negatively affect Africa’s developmental projections.
Abdullah Bello