Nigeria faces vaccine shortage as funding staggers

Nigeria is facing a critical shortage of vaccines due to the non-release of budgetary allocations and declining donor support, a situation threatening the immunisation of millions of Nigerian children.

Chika Offor, the executive director of the Vaccine Network for Disease Control, disclosed this at the 9th annual health conference organised by the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists on Friday in Abuja.

She decried the failure of the government to release funds amid dwindling global aid, warning that it has led to stock-outs of critical vaccines. She said the situation is a crisis.

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“As we speak, there is a stock-out of critical vaccines. In the FCT, for instance, there is no rotavirus vaccine. It is a crisis,” she said.

Offor revealed that in the 2024 fiscal year, the government released N29 billion out of over N100 billion appropriated for vaccines. In 2025, N68 billion of the N231 billion budgeted was released, and that amount was only made available in November.

“That money is not enough for over 100 million children. There was no release of the appropriated budget for 2025 until November,” she said.

She warned that Nigeria has more than 2.3 million children who have not received vaccinations, a figure that could rise if funding is not urgently increased.

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“How can we say there’s no vaccines, our children need vaccines. How can you they go to their health centre and there’s no vaccine? How can we say there’s no money to buy vaccine? It’s a crisis,” she emphasised.

Offor stressed that the government must take primary responsibility for procuring vaccines. “It is the job of the government to make sure vaccines are procured. Even when donor partners are supporting us, it is the government that must be in the driver’s seat,” she said.

She called for immunisation funding to be placed on a first-line charge, whether through the basic healthcare provision pathway, or by allocating one percent of taxes, including VAT or excise duties. “Whatever strategy the country needs to adopt, funding for vaccines must be untouchable,” Offor stressed.

In addition, she urged improvements to primary healthcare centres and hospitals to ensure they are adequately equipped to deliver immunisation services.

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Offor also highlighted the need to prioritise zero-dose children in national policy, noting that 2.3 million children have yet to receive a single vaccine.

She further noted that security challenges in hard-to-reach areas further complicate delivery, and urged the government to boost security.

“Some of those areas are difficult to access due to insecurity. Who will go there? We are using drones and different strategies, but the security architecture must be strengthened so that people in these areas can get the vaccines they need,” she said.

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