The Lagos State government on Sunday said it has engaged 135 private health facilities for COVID-19 mass vaccination.
The mass vaccination strategy, it said, is targeted at vaccinating four million residents by December 2021, noting that the additional 135 facilities will bring the total number of vaccination sites in the state to 360.
The State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi explained that the enrolled private facilities were engaged after a rigorous selection and accreditation process that hinges on quality assurance, vaccine safety and follow-up care.
Abayomi noted that registration for vaccination at public and private health facilities will be done online on the website of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency – https://nphcda.vaccination.gov.ng, adding that the list of accredited private and public facilities is available on the website of NPHCDA and the official communication channels of the Lagos State Government.
“The decision to leverage on the private sector is based solely on our resolve to include private health facilities and corporate institutions as additional sites for the COVID-19 vaccination administration. This is in furtherance of the effort to increase the reach and access to the available vaccines provided through the generous contributions and donations by the Federal Government and our donors.
“By doing this, we are once again recognising the impact of the collaboration between the public and private sector for healthcare and strengthening the link for far-reaching initiatives in the State.
“We also understand that there are citizens, who for personal reasons, would prefer to receive the vaccine at the comfort of a private facility. It is important that such citizens should not be deprived of access to the vaccine especially as this negates the principle of vaccine equity. Therefore, the involvement of the private sector is important”.
The commissioner added that those who wished to get vaccinated in private facilities would pay an administration fee of N6,000.
“Those that wish to receive the vaccines within the comforts of a private facility can do so at a minimal administrative cost of N6,000 for two doses which cover the cost that the private sector will incur to facilitate the administration of the vaccine which includes logistics, personnel, quality oversight, administrative and overhead costs.
“I wish to note that no one is compelled to receive their vaccines at any private facility as the vaccines in both are of the same quality and brand. We have also invested in the training of our public personnel so that the customer experience in our public facilities would be matched equally with that of the private sector”.
