Fake COVID-19 Vaccines in Nigeria—NAFDAC Cries Out

By Adedapo Adesanya

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has run to the rooftop to warn Nigerians of the circulation of fake coronavirus vaccines in the country.

At a webinar with journalists on Friday, the Director-General of the agency, Prof Christianah Adeyeye, said the use of these counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines was dangerous.

At the event tagged Safety of COVID-19 vaccines: What NAFDAC wants the public to know about COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria, she said no vaccine has been approved by NAFDAC at the moment, calling for caution of the negative effect of the use of the fake drugs.

“The agency has not received any application from COVID-19 vaccines manufacturers. COVID-19 vaccines are new, and the side effects or adverse events must be well monitored,” Mrs Adeyeye said.

While appealing to the public to beware of vaccines, she said, “there are reports of fake vaccines in Nigeria, therefore, if NAFDAC does not approve, the public should not use.”

“No COVID-19 vaccines have been approved by NAFDAC. Fake vaccines can cause COVID-like illnesses or other serious diseases that could kill.

“NAFDAC plans to commence tracking and tracing of the vaccines. It plans to also use the traceability with GS1 technology to monitor the vaccine distribution using Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). The goal is to 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 added.

In vaccine-related news, Nigeria has made plans to vaccinate as much of 40 per cent of Nigerians this year as parts of the first step to ensure immunity against the virus.

This is coming following the country’s expectations to receive 100,000 doses of Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine at the end of January through the Covax initiative.

Covax has not started shipping vaccines yet and has not given a precise date for when it will begin.

Ideally, Nigeria should have at least 70 per cent of the population vaccinated by the end of 2022.