Without timely access to vaccines to counter the sustained and corrosive primary and secondary impact of COVID-19, the country’s social, economic and security conditions will remain fragile. In mid-December 2020, Nigeria confirmed that a second wave of the pandemic was underway, with daily growth rates of new cases averaging nine percent, compared to two percent at the height of the first wave. The second wave also appears to be more lethal with the average rate of new fatal cases rising much more rapidly when compared to the first wave.

This brief focuses on the socioeconomic implications of delayed access to vaccines.