New strains of the contagion are spreading rapidly as Africa gears up for its largest-ever vaccination drive.
“In the meantime, we are exploring how else to bring vaccines in with a view to allowing Nigeria to go to 40 percent by the end of the year.”
A spokesman of NCDC described the sale of the vaccine as “crazy”.
Mr. Bello had kicked against the COVID-19 vaccination, saying it was meant to kill people.
Nigeria remains heavily reliant on handouts from the global COVAX scheme of the World Health Organisation.
Over 100,000 Nigerians have been infected by the highly contagious virus with at least 1,000 deaths nationwide.
The Nigerian government had notified citizens of an expected shipment of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, due to arrive in the country late January.
“Maybe the Chief Imams, the Bishops, top musicians and our sports personalities,” he said.
Prominent Nigerians are willing to be among the first set of Nigerians to receive the vaccine on live television to help drive acceptance.
Vaccines would only complement, not replace, the existing tools for slowing transmission of the virus and saving lives, Mr. Tedros said.
