Coronavirus: NCDC DG says Nigeria can’t produce vaccine
- The NCDC boss, Ihekweazu, has said Nigeria does not have the capacity to produce Covid-19 vaccine
- Ihekweazu gave the assurance that the country will have access to the vaccine when it becomes available
- The NCDC chief added that Nigeria will leverage its strong distribution system to administer the vaccine when available
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The director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said Nigeria does not have enough capacity for the production of Covid-19 vaccines.
The Nation reported that Ihekweazu made this known on Monday, September 28, during a television programme in Abuja.
The NCDC boss expressed optimism that the country will not lack access to vaccines when they are available.
Source: UGC
He noted that Nigeria has a strong distribution capacity and will leverage it to administer the vaccine when available.
The NCDC boss said:
“The most important thing in short-term goal for a vaccine is access. We are part of a global coalition called COVAX that is working very hard to ensure equitable access across the world once these vaccines become available.
“There are two important criteria for vaccines – efficacy, that is if they work, and safety. Once this is proven, and we hope to get that data by the end of the year, then the next big issue is production capacity.
“We don’t have a lot in Nigeria; most of the production will likely happen in India and a few other countries. The third aspect will then be the distribution. That is where we really have a lot of capacity.”
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Earlier, the NCDC warned that the non-compliance to COVID-19 health guidelines could spike the second wave in Adamawa and other states in the country.
Fahad Mohammed, the technical adviser on the implementation of NCDC’s action plan, gave the warning in Adamawa state.
He sounded the warning during the sensitisation of officials of the Nigerian police and other paramilitary agencies in Yola.
In another report, Darius Ishaku, governor of Taraba, has declared that no one will die of Covid-19 infection because his government is putting all necessary measures in place to flatten the curve of the highly-ravaging pandemic.
The governor made this known on Tuesday, September 22, in Jalingo, the state capital, after receiving the report of the Taraba Covid-19 task force presented to him by the committee's chairman, Innocent Vakkai.
Ishaku said his administration is doing all that it can to ensure that no life is lost to the deadly disease that has killed thousands globally while millions of lives are on a red line.
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Source: Legit.ng
