President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, lauded the establishment of the Coronavirus African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team to accelerate the financing and procurement of Coronavirus vaccines for the continent.
President Buhari stated this in his message to the 34th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU), a virtual event, which he joined from the State House in Abuja.
He expressed Nigeria’s readiness to work with global and African partners to achieve speedy development and manufacturing of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine for all Africans.
The President described as a welcome development the establishment of the Coronavirus Response Special Fund to mitigate the socio-economic and humanitarian impacts of the pandemic in Africa.
President Buhari, whose speech was read by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, also expressed Nigeria’s eagerness to work with co-member states of the union to go beyond just finding solutions to the immediate emergency and focus resources on promoting human health and general wellness.
Buhari, who is the ECOWAS Champion on the Fight against COVID-19, informed the session that Nigeria had provided logistics support including critical COVID-19 medical supplies distributed to other ECOWAS member states.
He said, “Nigeria welcomes today’s report from my brother Cyril Ramaphosa, including the endorsement of the attached decisions. In view of the results on the ground today, Africa must be commended even as we begin the implementation of a mitigation strategy.
“The imperative for the immunisation of 60 percent of Africans for the safe and secure vaccine cannot be overemphasized. “Nigeria, therefore, welcomes the decision to establish the Coronavirus African Vaccine Acquisition Capacity to accelerate the financing and procurement of coronavirus vaccines for the continent.
“We continue to appreciate the remarkable progress by the team with respect to securing a provisional 270 million coronavirus vaccine doses for Africa along with Africa Medical Supply platform and other laudable initiatives already in place.
“Excellencies, in my capacity as ECOWAS Champion on Coronavirus, Nigeria has provided logistics support, including the freight in of critical Covid-19 medical supplies distributed to other ECOWAS member states.
“At the national level and in the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria, we prioritize the vulnerable, including women, children, older persons, and the unemployed in our efforts to provide medical and social assistance to mitigate the socio-economic effects of the disease.
“I will like to stress that Nigeria is committed to working with other member states, in the spirit of regional cooperation and solidarity, to promote human health and general wellbeing.
“We will continue to partner with the World Health Organization (WHO), the African Center for Disease Control and West African Health Organization as well as other countries to ensure accelerated development and manufacturing as well as unhindered supply of safe and effective coronavirus vaccines to all Africans”, he said.
He congratulated the outgoing Chairman of the AU, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, for addressing key issues for Africa on the Coronavirus pandemic, said the virus had created an additional burden to the continent’s public health system.
“I will like at the outset to express our profound gratitude to my brother, President Cyril Ramaphosa, for the outstanding manner in which he has steered the affairs of our union during the last one year.
“I will also like to congratulate my brother, President Felix Shisekedi on his assumption of our union. We wish you a happy and successful tenure and assure you of Nigeria’s unflinchingly support.
“I will like in particular to congratulate the Chairperson of the union, President Cyril Ramaphosa, for making good use of the platform of the bureau to address key issues for Africa on the Coronavirus pandemic”, he said.