President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded Nigerians for coming together as one to fight against the deadly virus, Coranavirus (COVID-19).
Gatekeepers News reports that Buhari commended the unified spirit of Nigerians during his Independence day speech today.
He said although the COVID-19 pandemic destabilised the nation’s prioritised intention to build the economy and restore peace in areas confronted with security challenges, the nation will continue to shift gears and re-strategise to ensure the goals are achieved.
He added that even as the Delta variant continues to spread, Nigeria has built the capacity needed to respond now and into the future.
According to the president, the Nigerian government has continued to explore all available options to ensure Nigerians have free access to safe and effective vaccines despite the global inequity in access to vaccines.
Buhari said, “Some five million vaccine doses have been administered to Nigerians through efforts led by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and we will continue to explore options for purchase or acquisition of vaccines such as through COVAX and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.
”I will take this opportunity to remind the global community that the current state of access to COVID-19 vaccines is unacceptable. We cannot afford a situation where a handful of countries keep the global vaccine supply to themselves at the expense of other nations.
“We must act now to accelerate equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. This is the message I conveyed to the international community in New York last week.
“As we push to source vaccines for our immediate needs, we shall invest more to support our pharmaceutical and research agencies to come up with ideas for locally developed vaccines. Should another pandemic arise in the future, Our question is simple; will Nigeria be ready?”
He, therefore, called on Nigerians not to take COVID lightly, stating that everyone must adhere to public health and social measures.
He encouraged Nigerians to put on the nose mask and get vaccinated.
“We can control this pandemic, but it requires effort on everybody’s part. The investments we made in response to COVID-19 will also serve our country to tackle any future disease outbreaks or pandemics.”
“It is this attitude and by the special grace of God, we continue to survive the pandemic as a nation and indeed, provide leadership and example at regional and international levels,” he said.
