1,848 doses of COVID vaccine not enough for Oyo, Makinde tells FG

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said the 1,848 doses of COVID-19 vaccine allocated to the state are not sufficient.

Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, had said the country would receive 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the end of January.

According to the sharing formula released by the agency, Oyo, Kano, Lagos, Katsina, Kaduna and Bauchi will receive more doses for health workers.

Oyo has a record of 3,693 COVID-19 cases, 3,242 recoveries and 45 deaths.

Specifically, data shared by the NPHCDA showed a distribution breakdown as follows: Kano, 3,557; Lagos, 3,131; Katsina, 2,361; Kaduna, 2,074; Bauchi, 1,900; Oyo, 1,848; Rivers, 1,766; Jigawa, 1,712; Niger, 1,558; Ogun, 1,473; Sokoto, 1,468; Benue, 1,423; Borno, 1,416; Anambra, 1,379; Kebbi, 1,268; Zamfara, 1,336; Delta, 1,306; Imo, 1,267; Ondo, 1,228; and Akwa Ibom, 1,161.

Others are  Adamawa, 1,129; Edo, 1,104; Plateau, 1,089; Enugu, 1,088; Osun, 1,032; Kogi, 1,030; Cross River, 1,023; Abia, 955; Gombe, 908; Yobe, 842; Ekiti, 830; Taraba, 830; Kwara, 815; Ebonyi, 747; Bayelsa, 589; FCT, 695 and Nasarawa, 661.

But Makinde, who addressed journalists on Wednesday, said the quota allocated to the state cannot meet the need of its population.

The governor said the state government would engage manufacturers of Astra-Zeneca vaccine, “when finally certified fit for human consumption” to supply Oyo the vaccine.

He said the Astra-Zeneca vaccine “has been said to be more suitable for the state because of its storage instructions” compared to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the federal government is procuring.