NAFDAC warns Nigerians on fake COVID-19 vaccines in circulation
By The National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has warned that it has not approved any vaccines for public use or received any application from vaccine manufacturers for emergency use authorization in Nigeria.
The Agency said this while warning that there are fake vaccines currently in circulation in Nigeria, capable of causing severe illness or death, and urged Nigerians to beware.
Mojisola Adeyeye, DG NAFDAC who gave this warning at a virtual news briefing frowned at reports that some Government agencies and private companies plan on ordering Covid-19 vaccines without its approval.
“No Government establishment or agencies should order vaccines without confirming from NAFDAC if the vaccines have been approved. Vaccines should not be ordered by any agency or corporation “, she warned.
Adeyeye explained that the approval by WHO for emergency use of some of these vaccines is not enough, and therefore such vaccines must be subject to its approval before it can be administered to Nigerians.
“That WHO approves it for Emergency use is not enough, no vaccine should be used unless it is subject to NAFDAC approval,” she said.
“The Companies that manufacture the vaccines if they are genuine, know they have to submit applications to NAFDAC”, she added.
She however informed that NAFDAC is discussing with manufacturers of candidate COVID-19 vaccines concerning potential Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), registration, or licensing of their product as the case may be.
“The Agency assures applicants that if Phase 3 clinical data are very convincing and robust with regards to safety and efficacy, and the vaccine has been submitted for WHO for Emergency use listing, NAFDAC will welcome the application for Emergency Use Authorization in Nigeria”, the DG said.
The DG further informed that NAFDAC is preparing to do tracking and Tracing of the Vaccines using Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), prevent fake vaccines from infiltrating the supply chain, and to ensure there is no diversion.
“This effort will create a reliable and predictable supply chain. The multi-stakeholder technical working group has been meeting to address different issues, from access to distribution to traceability (track and trace) of the vaccines to monitoring of adverse events following immunization”, she said.