By Tosin Olatokunbo
More states are set on collision course with the federal government over the distribution of covid-19 vaccines to 36 states in the country and FCT. Oyo state government has set the ball rolling by kicking against its allocation, but the magazine learnt that more states will also reject their own allocation in coming days.
Many states in the country are not happy that the vaccines allocated to them are not based on the rates of infections. Predominantly from the south are governors who feel more vaccines have been allocated to the North where infections are not as high.
The Buhari administration said it has purchased over N400 billion worth of the vaccines, and has commenced distribution to the 36 state governments and Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja. The government said all states will get 4000 vaccines during the first phase, adding that the second phase of distribution will be done on the basis of need.
While rejecting the vaccine allocated to his people, Governor Seyi Makinde said the 1, 800 allocated to the state, out of the 100, 000 vaccines for the country is not enough, noting that more persons are being infected by the deadly virus.
Makinde who disclosed this during a press conference held at the Government House, Agodi in Ibadan, said the number of infection is at an alarming rate, noting that the state recorded 696 COVID-19 positive cases out of 13,000 tests from December 2020 to date. He said the number of vaccines allocated to the state was grossly inadequate based on the population of between seven and 12 million people.
He stated that his government was exploring other means of getting the vaccine to the people through opening discussion directly with a vaccine manufacturer on how the state could get as many as possible for the people of the state.
The latest figures released by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA showed that Kano received the highest allocation of 3, 557 while Nasarrawa got the least of 661 vaccines.
The agency said at the week end that the rate of infection per state/region was considered in allocating the vaccines. The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN gives the state-by-state allocation Kano State 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; Zamfara 1,336; Delta 1,306.
Others are Kebbi 1,268; Imo 1,267; Ondo 1,228; Akwa Ibom 1,161; 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.
The agency said the first phase of the vaccines will be given from January to February in its first, assuring that 40 per cent of Nigerians would be vaccinated by 2021 and 70 per cent by 2022.
In spite of this assurance, close watchers of events in the country say the government did not consider many factors before distributing the vaccines to state, noting that this may have been responsible for the bad blood that the issue in now generating.
According to this school of thought, factors that should have been considered include the rate of infection and infection-potential of each state, rather than population which the government seemed to have used as modicum for allocating the vaccines to states. Political and other sentimental factors should not be used in allocating the vaccines, critics say.
“For instance, it makes no sense to allocate more vaccines to Kano state when Lagos state is the epicenter of the pandemic. Since the virus broke last year, Lagos state has been on the top of the infection table, according to the National Center for Disease Control, NCDC. It therefore beats the imagination that the state came second in allocation of the vaccine,” Chucks Fidelis, a public analyst said.
He said the federal government must show the political will to contain the virus from spreading further, instead of leaning to towards sentimental factors which can make the fight against Covid-19 difficult.
The worry is that some states with the resources could begin to source for the vaccines on their own in a bid to curb the spread of the virus in their various states, which can be dangerous considering recent reports that fake vaccines are now on the prowl. The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration, NAFDAC recently warned against the proliferation of fake Covid 19 vaccines.
But sources close to the Ministry of Health said the federal government will ensure that the vaccines are fairly distributed based on need. A source in the Ministry told the magazine that “every action of the government should not be viewed from the prism of politics. The Buhari administration has been on top of this issue, and this can be seen through the Presidential Task Force, PTF on Covid-19. Nigerians should be patient, the vaccine will be distributed based on the need of people across the country,” he said.
