Lagos State Approves 135 Private Hospitals for COVID-19 Vaccination

The Lagos State Government has engaged 135 private health facilities for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying this will strengthen the mass vaccination strategy targeted at four million residents by December 2021. According to Punch Nigeria, The state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, in a statement on Sunday, said the number of public and private vaccination sites in Lagos was now 360.

He said “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 recognizing 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.”

According to the commissioner, 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.

Source: PUNCH NIGERIA