The COVAX international vaccine initiative requires U.S.$4.2 billion over the next two months to ensure that “sooner rather than later”, the approved inoculation can get underway in Africa”, UN chief António Guterres has said. He acknowledged that several countries have made “an enormous effort” to ensure vaccinations for their own populations while at the same time, the COVAX financing requirements have yet to be fully met. Meanwhile, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former finance minister, has assured Nigeria and other African countries of access to COVID-19 vaccines as from the end of January, through the first quarter of 2021. She added that the Pfizer vaccine and the AstraZeneca were presently being negotiated so that poor countries do not have to stand in a queue behind rich countries.
