By Uche Mbah
Nigeria has finally joined the race for the production of Vaccines for Coronavirus, the pandemic that has been ravaging the world causing economic strain, disruption of the supply chain, and deaths all over the world.
For this purpose, the government has released N10 billion for the local production of the vaccines in the country.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said that the fund was released by the Finance Minister for the support of domestic vaccine production.
“While we are working to develop our own vaccines, Nigeria is exploring options for licensed production, in collaboration with recognized institutions.
“We are also exploring the option of local production of the vaccines in the country,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, tales are rife of vaccines already being sold and applied in Nigeria as part of the imported vaccines from either China, Europe, or America. The Minister, however, dismissed this with a wave of the hand.
“I advise all citizens to disregard these claims, as they are criminal. There are procedures for vaccine acquisition and use, which include appropriate regulations and certification by the National Agency for Food and Drug and Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“I advise against fake vaccines, as there is no one approved for use in the country.
“The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) is the only authorized vaccine administrator in Nigeria,” he said.
The number of new COVID-19 cases had continued to spike in the country. 10,300 confirmed cases were recently reported from 50,750 samples tested in one week which implies a 20 percent positivity rate.
“It means one out of every five persons tested in the last one week turned out positive, compared with the previous week which recorded a positivity rate of 14 percent.
“Nigeria’s total number of confirmed cases is 110,387 out of a total of 1,172,234 samples tested, with a cumulative positivity rate of 9.4 percent. 1,444 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, with sadly 77 deaths in the past week and a total fatality of 1,435.
“It is instructive of the second wave that all cases recorded so far this January is more than 20 percent of all confirmed cases in Nigeria, more than the whole of December, barely halfway through the month.
“There is no doubting the fact that we are deep into the second a wave of the pandemic which requires that PTF and FMoH review our strategies to respond to the challenge.
“The federal ministry of health has outlined three approaches to confront the pandemic. These are: infection mitigation, therapeutics and vaccines,” he said.
