LAST September, the Federal Government through the Presidential Task Force, PTF, on COVID-19 was given the sample of the first COVID-19 vaccine by a delegation headed by the Russian ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Alexey Sherbashin. The sample of the then, newly developed and first vaccine, Russian made Sputnik-V was handed over to Nigeria’s authorities with a guiding aide memoir to enable the Nigerian medical and regulatory bodies to conduct further study on the vaccine sample.

Nearly eight months after, nothing has been heard from the Nigerian authorities about Sputnik-V. The Russian ambassador who presented the vaccine sample has suggested, then, that Nigeria may consider to put together an expert team to collaborate with the Russian side for possible clinical trials of the vaccine. There was no evidence in the public domain to indicate that the Nigerian authorities initiated a response for a trial of the efficacy or otherwise of the Russian made Sputnik-V vaccines. Despite that a research article published in September last year in the highly-rated UK-based science journal, The Lancet acknowledged that Sputnik-V passed early trials conducted on patients, as it helped developed anti-bodies without causing any serious side effects, the Nigerian managers of the COVID-19 pandemic maintained complete aloofness to the first developed vaccines against the pandemic despite having been fully briefed by the Russians and provided with samples and other accessories that would enable a scientific study of the vaccine. Despite making no effort at instituting indigenous efforts at vaccine development, Nigerian authorities, especially the COVID-19 pandemic managers, were dutifully waiting for the West to make a breakthrough with the vaccine development. With the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines developed in the US and UK respectively, Nigeria’s pandemic managers cheered enthusiastically in a sheepish neo-colonial context, and were waiting sheepishly to receive the vaccines. The Pfizer vaccines which needed a certain condition of temperature storage and which the Nigeria’s elite managers of the COVID-19 pandemic did not have, were dutifully by-passed on account of inadequate storage facility. Since the arrival of the first batch of Astra-Zeneca vaccines which were actually manufactured in India, subsequent batches have been held back because India has had the highest rate of infections and is keeping the vaccines for its domestic uses. However, in a compelling irony that would bother Nigeria’s managers of COVID-19 pandemic, India has approved the use of Russian-made Sputnik vaccines for use as way to diversify their basket of available vaccines. The India which we wait on endlessly to supply other batches of vaccines and which is currently contending with the unfortunate surge in COVID-19 infections and death may not likely deliver any more batches on schedules. At the middle of March, India’s authority announced a temporary ban on exports of its Oxford-Astra-Zeneca vaccines, in a move that was considered to jeopardise global vaccine supplies, but the action given the surge of the pandemic in India is understandable. The shock is that Nigeria’s COVID-19 managers pretended as if they do not know that India would not be supplying the vaccines for the nearest future.