By Saidu Idris
365Daily – The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has given reasons why Nigeria cannot begin the production of COVID-19 vaccines at the moment.
The Minister, who spoke in Abuja, said the government lacked the required technology for the production of the vaccines.
He, however, assured that the N10 billion approved by the National Assembly for local production of COVID-19 purpose is intact.
Ehanire also disclosed that the Federal Government was in in talks with an indigenous vaccine firm, Bio-Vaccine Nigeria Limited, on prospects of producing the vaccine in the country.
He stated: “Nigeria is a 49 per cent shareholder in a company called Bio-Vaccine Nigeria Limited, and the bio-vaccine is a revival of the former vaccine plants that the Federal Government used to have, in which the private sector was invited to join and form a special purpose vehicle – a company called Bio-Vaccine.
”Now the joint venture was stalled because of the COVID-19 outbreak – when there was a lockdown and when nothing could move.
”So there is a lot of delay by the company in getting themselves on their feet.
“The aspiration to produce vaccines has not been fulfilled. It is not that it is abandoned.
”We are working on it and I have spoken with one of the members of the board of management of the Bio-Vaccine and we are working on getting that technology to both produce routine vaccines and also COVID-19 vaccines under licence and importation of the technology and partnership for it.”