Vaccine nationalism and the quest for indigenous COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the panic-buying of COVID-19 vaccines by wealthy countries for their citizens, otherwise known as ‘vaccine nationalism’, and the quest to develop local capacity for the production of vaccines in Nigeria. The paper argues that in the light of the global race, and attempts by countries to urgently secure the COVID-19 vaccines for their citizens, it behoves on the government of Nigeria to invest in the health security of its citizens and put aside the over-dependency on charity and goodwill of Western countries at every turn. The paper concludes that vaccine nationalism can spur the development of home-grown capabilities not just for vaccine against COVID-19 but vaccines and other novel therapeutic or prophylactic products for the prevention and treatment of endemic and emerging disease. This will in turn create jobs, improve healthcare delivery, curb medical tourism and stem the tide of migration of health professionals. The methodology is descriptive in approach, relying on personal observation and data gleaned from journals, magazines and Newspapers.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• vaccine nationalism
• health security
• local capacity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kelvin Ashindorbe

Kelvin Ashindorbe lectures at the Department of Communication and General Studies, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State. He holds a PhD degrees in Peace and Conflicts Studies from the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan. He also earned a post graduate diploma in Federalism, Decentralization and Conflict Resolution from the Institute of Federalism, University of Fribourg Switzerland. His research interest focuses on Political Parties, multilevel government/state organisation, Governance/Development issues, conflict transformation and democracy; area where he has published book chapters and articles in peer reviewed journals. He is a member of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice, a Fellow of French Institute for Research in Africa IFRA-Nigeria.

Temitope Olaifa

Dr Temitope Olaifa holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. She lectures at the Communication and General Studies Department, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. She has several research articles in local and international peer-reviewed journals. She currently coordinates the Peace and Strategic Studies and Security and Intelligence Studies programmes at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Her research foci are: Communication, Peace and Security, Gender, and the Environment. She works on the Scientific Committee of the proposed Parliamentarian University on Health, Population and Development, Dakar, Senegal.

Kingsley Chigozie Udegbunam

Kingsley Chigozie Udegbunam is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science and the Social Science Unit of the School of General Studies, University of Nigeria Nsukka. His research interests are in the area of peace and conflict/security/strategic studies, especially in peace building, counterterrorism, cyber security policies and human security. He has edited books, published chapters and articles in local and international journals.