By Ochiaka Ugwu
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had announced the notification of an additional $10.6 million in development assistance to continue support for the goals outlined in a 2021 bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Nigerian governments.
In a press statement released Thursday by Public Affairs Section of United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria in Abuja, it noted that most of the new funding will finance boosting COVID-19 vaccination efforts to reach targets of 600,000 people a day.
According to the statement, “The funds will also support integrating COVID-19 vaccinations into routine immunization and primary health care systems, state level data collection and analytics, health worker training, and expansion of vaccination access points at the community level.
“Given the significant progress Nigeria has made, we are pleased to provide more funds to improve COVID-19 vaccine delivery services,” said USAID Mission Director, Anne Patterson. “These new funds will deepen our support for all levels of government to meet their vaccination targets.”
“This funding increases the total U.S. assistance to the Nigerian people to $179 million under the five-year $2.1 billion Development Objectives Assistance Agreement signed between USAID and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning as affirmed by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken during his visit to Nigeria in November 2021” the statement concluded.
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