The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) has said it would soon inaugurate an advisory group of experts to provide high-level strategic guidance and support on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines in the short term and the local production of vaccines in the medium to long term.
The Forum in a communique at the end of its 25th teleconferencing signed by its chairman and governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, said the governors were engaging directly with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to ensure that vaccines were administered equitably.
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According to the communique, the vaccines would first be administered to workers who are on the frontline of the pandemic.
The communique reads in part; “The Forum deliberated on the underutilization of fiscal facilities in the country including the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Fund, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and the Saving One Million Lives programme for results (SOML) which are meant to expand the size and scope of resources spent on health and education across all States of the Federation.
“The Forum recognises that the timely implementation of these facilities in line with the financing plans of States is vital to ensure expenditure coherence and the sustainability for several projects on primary health care and basic education implemented at the State-level, especially during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic where the demand for government intervention has been heightened.”