By Hassan Zaggi
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, has disclosed that the current successes recorded in the COVID-19 vaccination exercise and strategies put in place by the federal government to ensure that all eligible Nigerians are vaccinated prompted donor agencies including United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation to support Nigeria.
He disclosed this while receiving a donation of 22 Portable Ultra-Low Temperature Freezers donated to Nigeria by the UPS Foundation, in Abuja.
According to Dr. Shuaib, “we have seen a situation where we have been able to vaccinate over 40 per cent of eligible Nigerians and everyday we keep adding these numbers which is such progress that has motivated organizations like UPS Foundation to come to the table and continue to support Nigeria.
“This is because they believe in the quality of our immunization programme and strategies that we have put in place and recognized that there is interest on the part of the federal government, donors and development partners to reach the last mile.
“There are very few organisations that can beat UPS when it comes to reaching the last mile.”
He continued that: “What we are seeing here is a government that is very interested in the rural population collaborating and in partnership with one of the foremost companies that knows how to get to the last mile that will bring an outstanding result.”
While reiterating that UPS will continue to provide support to the federal government, the Managing Director of UPS, Mike Umoh, disclosed that: “We have come to provide support and that is why we have come to donate 22 Ultra cold freezers. We are very much on ground to provide support.”
On his part, the Head, UPS Foundation, Africa, Bassey Aneri, said that his Foundation has so far donated over 21 million dosses of COVID-19 vaccines across the country.
“UPS has done a lot over the years, we have delivered 21m dosses so far across the country and we are still delivering and we are ready to deliver more.
“This is the point where we are saying UPS is available, we are ready and we can always support,” he said.
He insisted that there will no limit to the support it can render to Nigeria, stressing that: “As the opportunity comes, we will come up.”
