Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The United States has announced additional $10.6 million to boost the COVID-19 vaccination efforts in Nigeria that has a target of vaccinating 600,000 people daily.
A statement yesterday by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) disclosed that the funds would also support integrating COVID-19 vaccinations into routine immunisation and primary health care systems, state level data collection and analytics, health worker training, and expansion of vaccination access points at the community level.
The statement stated that the additional $10.6 million in development assistance was for the goals outlined in a 2021 bilateral agreement between the US and the Nigerian governments.
The USAID Mission Director, Anne Patterson was quoted to have said: “Given the significant progress Nigeria has made, we are pleased to provide more funds to improve COVID-19 vaccine delivery services. These new funds will deepen our support for all levels of government to meet their vaccination targets.”
The statement said the funding increases the total US assistance to the Nigerian people to $179 million under the five-year $2.1 billion Development Objectives Assistance Agreement signed between USAID and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning as affirmed by the US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken during his visit to Nigeria in November 2021.
