By Ife Osemedua
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has announced the approval of AstraZeneca Vaccine for use in Nigeria.
She also disclosed that the Astrazeneca vaccine was effective against the United Kingdom variant of the virus which has been reported in Nigeria, adding that the South African variant has not been reported in the country.
The disclosure was made on Thursday, February 18, 2021, putting Nigeria on the same track with the World Health Organisation (WHO) which recently gave the brand of vaccine the nod for emergency use to curtail the spread of COVID-19
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Adeyeye said NAFDAC’s safety committee began the evaluation of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy for Nigerians after it received the dossier of the vaccine a week ago.
While affirming that the vaccine could be stored in two to eight degrees Centigrade, she explained that there were three additional vaccines undergoing evaluation, in addition to over 30 herbal medicines undergoing review for listing.