Covid-19: Sanwo-Olu discloses how Lagos intends to fund vaccination programme

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has revealed how the state government intends to fund the vaccination programme as they fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Governor said that although the Lagos State Government had earmarked billions in fighting the scourge of the Covid-19, his administration was engaging with the private sector as the amount they had would not be enough.

This disclosure was made by the governor while appearing on a Channels Television programme, Sunday politics, on Sunday, January 24, 2021.

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What the Lagos State Governor is saying

Sanwo-Olu said, “The conversations are still at various levels. We are speaking with the organised private sector so they can help us raise some of the finance that is required.

“We have our friends in the private sector who are saying to us that they understand this is a public health issue but we also can work with you. The citizens are your citizens but they also are our staff.’’

The governor also said that his administration did not need to vaccinate over 20 million residents of the state against the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

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He said, “It is important for me to make this. We don’t have to vaccinate the 20 or 22 million population that we have. The plan is to ensure that there is herd immunity and that typically speaks about 50 to 60 percent of your population, that is the kind of target that you really meet.

“We have started a conversation with some of the vaccine manufacturers. Pfizer for example. I have made contact with them. Johnson and Johnson are not out yet; the Moderna has written to us and we have written back to them.”

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What this means

• The Lagos State Government is looking for private sector participation to help raise funds to fund the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines due to budgetary shortfalls.
• The state, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the country through the vaccination programme, is trying to get most of its population immune from the Covid-19 disease.