WHO Picks Prof Tomori as Technical Advisor on COVID-19

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel

The World Health Organization (WHO) has appointed Professor Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian professor of virology, to serve as a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 vaccine composition.

Prof Tomori, who is also the former Vice-Chancellor of the Redeemer’s University, Ede, will now become one of the experts who will periodically review the evidence and analyse the implications of emerging variants of concerns on the performance of COVID-19 vaccines.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the organization explained that one of the importance of the group is to make recommendations to WHO based on methods to assess the impact of each of the four variants or emerging variants of concern on vaccines.

This has become very crucial given the mutations that are producing different strains and variants of the coronavirus, from the Alpha Variant, the Beta, Gamma, and the recently discovered Delta Variant.

According to the published statement by WHO, “During those global consultations, the WHO and partners have noted the urgent needs for shared access to information, coordination, and prioritisation, as well as joint action and supported the call for the development of a global risk monitoring and assessment framework that elaborates decision-making processes, triggers for such decision making, and stakeholder roles and responsibilities.”

It was noted that the group is to make recommendations to WHO on the methods to assess the impact of the variants of concerns on vaccines and provide interpretation of available evidence on the effect of variants of concerns on vaccines.

Other experts on the team include an advisor at the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health Thailand, Dr Supamit Chunsuttiwat; a professor in epidemiology at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, Cheryl Cohen; a member of the Scientific Steering Committee for the WHO Solidarity COVID-19 Vaccines Trial, Mr Thomas Fleming.

Others include David Goldblatt, who is a Professor of Vaccinology and Immunology, as well as Dr Ziad Memish, a Senior Infectious Disease Consultant.