The U.S. Embassy in Abuja on Monday evening announced the arrival in Nigeria of four million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as part of the United States’ global efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement by the U.S. Embassy, Abuja said that at a hand-over ceremony, Chargé d’Affaires Kathleen FitzGibbon delivered the shipment to Nigeria’s Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chair of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss G. Mustapha, Dr. Faisal Shuaib and members of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19.
The statement said that “the donated vaccines are part of the U.S. pledge to initially provide at least 25 million of the 80 million doses globally to Africa.
“The U.S. government coordinated closely with the African Union, Africa CDC, and COVAX on the country allocations. COVAX supported delivery of these vaccine doses, which arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport yesterday (Sunday).
“The donation of these safe and effective vaccines will help protect the Nigerian people from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and begin reducing barriers to building back the country’s economy.”
Chargé d’Affaires Kathleen Fitzgibbon said that “this donation, like many other health and humanitarian assistance programs offered from the American people over the years reinforce the strong cooperation between our two governments.”
The statement added that “since the onset of the pandemic, the United States has provided Nigeria more than $73 million in COVID-19 assistance and will continue to support Nigeria’s prevention and response efforts, both now and in the future.
“This includes the delivery of a mobile field hospital, epidemiological COVID-19 detection surveys, personal protective equipment, provision of rapid response teams, training of over 200,000 military and civilian personnel on COVID-19 control measures, and technology transfer for virtual training.
“As President Biden said, “From the beginning of my presidency, we have been clear-eyed that we need to attack this virus globally as well. This is about our responsibility — our humanitarian obligation to save as many lives as we can — and our responsibility to our values. We’re going to help lead the world out of this pandemic, working alongside our global partners.”
“These 4 million doses are part of the United States’ commitment to share U.S. vaccine supply with the world. As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic at home and work to end the pandemic worldwide, President Biden has promised that the United States will be an arsenal of vaccines for the world.
“The United States is proud to partner with Nigeria to defeat COVID-19. Together, we will continue to build a world that is safer and more secure against the threat of infectious disease.”