By Joyce Babayeju
The National Agency for Food Drug and Administration Control NAFDAC, has warned of fake Covid 19 vaccines not registered with NAFDAC flooding Nigeria.
Recall that the Federal Government recently announced that it was in the process of procuring 10 million doses of Covid 19 vaccines which are expected to arrive in March.
Reacting to the development recently. The Director General of NAFDAC expressed fears over the possibility of fake vaccines flooding the Nigerian market. “There are reports of fake vaccines in Nigeria,” Director General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye said, Friday in a media parley.
“NAFDAC is pleading with the public to beware. No COVID vaccines have been approved by NAFDAC. Fake vaccines can cause COVID-like illnesses or other serious diseases that could kill.” she said.
Only last week the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA), announced a distribution plan for the COVID-19 vaccine in the country, saying that the rate of infection in each state was the criterion to be used in the distribution.
Based on the rate on infection in the states, the distribution list of the COVID-19 vaccine in the first batch indicated that Kano State will receive 3,557; Lagos, 3,131; Katsina, 2,361; Kaduna, 2,074; Bauchi, 1,900; Oyo, 1,848; Rivers, 1,766; Jigawa, 1,712; Niger, 1,558; Ogun, 1,473; Sokoto, 1,468; Benue, 1,423; Borno, 1,416; Anambra, 1,379; Zamfara, 1,336; Delta, 1,306;
Others were : Kebbi, 1,268; Imo, 1,267; Ondo, 1,228; Akwa Ibom, 1,161.Adamawa, 1,129; Edo, 1,104; Plateau, 1,089; Enugu, 1,088; Osun, 1,032; Kogi, 1,030; Cross River, 1,023; Abia, 955; Gombe, 908; Yobe, 842; Ekiti, 830; Taraba, 830; Kwara, 815; Ebonyi, 747; Bayelsa, 589; FCT, 695; Nasarawa, 661.
The NPHCDA said that though all of the states were getting less than 4,000 vaccines from the first batch, the federal government had advised that frontline workers, like those in the health and security sectors, be given priority, as well as the elderly.
The agency said that the vaccine, expected to be administered in January and February, would be done in compliance with WHO standards.
The government was targeting administering the vaccine on 40 per cent of Nigerians.
The agency also said the federal government was also sourcing for vaccines from other countries like Russia.
However, the position of NAFDAC indicates that there are no inter agency cooperation in the procurement, approval and administration of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.
