A Potential COVID-19 Vaccine Cannot Be Sold To The Highest Bidder – Osinbajo

Nigeria’s Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo has come out to say that the deployment of a potential COVID-19 vaccine should be done in an equitable and affordable manner.

He recently revealed that the thought of giving it out on the basis of the highest bidder would be very wrong.

According to a recent statement by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, not doing things fairly and equally will only rubbish efforts to effectively contain the global spread of COVID-19.

He added that coronavirus cannot be taken for granted across the globe, so every part of the world must not be ignored.

His words, “Europe should work closely with Africa to ensure that when a vaccine is finally deployed, it should not be on the basis of the highest bidder but rather be made available at an affordable and in an accessible manner.”

“This is a matter that should not be taken for granted. We saw during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, in richer parts of the world, that orders for test kits and reagents by African countries were deemed too small and tended to be ignored.”

“Although Nigeria does not have the resources or means to pre-pay for a COVID-19 vaccine; we are fortunate to be a GAVI supported country.”

“We urge the EU to lend support to GAVI’s effort to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX initiative. This way, poorer countries and their citizens will get the vaccines they need at the same time as the rest of the world.”