COVID-19: DPR to secure 11m doses of vaccine

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has made firm commitment to secure 11 million of COVID-19 vaccines in other to fight against the virus.

This was according to a report published by the agency, saying it is working on herd immunity for the petroleum industry with a vaccination campaign expected to leverage existing structures employed by industry operators to ensure seamless implementation of the Operational Area Communities COVID-19 Vaccine Support Scheme (OACCVSS).

The report showed that a total of 10 million doses of vaccines would be required to cover the industry personnel and also support host communities, DPR which regulates the industry reportedly required oil firms and their service providers to pay a princely $109.45 million for a million vials of coronavirus vaccine.

The regulatory agency stated that it secured firm orders for the procurement of the said vaccines after engagements with the industry on the subject, and each vial of the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca will serve 11 million doses.

The DPR reportedly stated that the bill on the industry is in line with the manufacturer’s minimum order requirement at the offered price.

Delivery of the vaccine order, according to DPR, would be through Vacipharm Limited and Vaccidel Consortium which also provide cold chain logistics for delivery and administration to the last mile.

The regulator stated that it was important to safeguard 2.5Million petroleum industry personnel from COVID-19 with two doses of the vaccine each. The number comprises personnel of operating companies, service providers, contractors and allied participants who provide services across the value chain, and their family members.

The DPR stated that the programme would also donate vaccines for another 2.5 million host community people to ensure that the industry and host communities are on equal immunity scale.

MTO/The Sun