Nigeria’s International Health Diplomacy: COVID-19 Vaccine Procurement and COVAX Engagement

This study examines Nigeria's engagement with international health diplomacy frameworks during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing specifically on the country's participation in the COVAX facility and its bilateral vaccine procurement efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant asymmetries in global health governance, with low-income African countries facing severe delays in vaccine access despite formal equity commitments under the COVAX mechanism. Drawing on health diplomacy theory and global health governance frameworks, this research analyses Nigeria's vaccine diplomacy from 2020 to 2024, examining its negotiations through the African Union Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, bilateral deals with China and India, and domestic deployment challenges. The study employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on National Primary Health Care Development Agency reports, WHO and UNICEF assessments, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control documentation, and semi-structured interviews with public health officials and diplomatic staff. Attention is paid to how Nigeria's position as Africa's most populous country shaped its negotiating leverage and responsibilities within COVAX. Findings are expected to show that Nigeria's vaccine diplomacy was initially reactive and coordination-poor, improving progressively through AU-level coalition building, but ultimately constrained by cold chain infrastructure and vaccine hesitancy that limited utilisation of procured doses. Recommendations are directed at institutionalising a preparedness-oriented health diplomacy capacity. Keywords: health diplomacy, COVID-19, COVAX, Nigeria, vaccine procurement.