Nigeria ‘took more measures than many countries’ to secure the right COVID vaccine

Faisal Shuaib, executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), says the federal government took more measures than many countries to ensure the selection of the right COVID-19 vaccine for Nigerians.

Shuaib said this on Friday at the launch of COVID-19 vaccination programme, held at the National Hospital in Abuja.

He said even though there were concerns about the delay in getting the vaccine, it was more important to get the doses suitable for the country.

“We’ve said it before now, that it is not how fast, but how well. It is not how fast we get the vaccines here, but making sure that we get the right vaccines for our environment; getting the right vaccines that are suitable for our cold-chain infrastructure,” he said.

“We took all of the measures that were required — more measures than many countries took when it came to selecting the vaccine for Nigerians.

“Yes, there was a lot of talk about the delay; yes, there was a lot of talk about why we were not starting when other countries were starting. But we realise that it is more important that we got WHO emergency use listing, that we also looked at some of the more stringent regulatory agencies, before we finally asked NAFDAC to assess the vaccine.”

The NPHCDA director also spoke on the safety of the vaccine, adding that the doses would be deployed effectively.

“They’ve done all of their work, and I want to put it on record again that the vaccines that we’re going to be delivering today to Nigerians are safe; they’re effective, and we’re going to roll out these vaccines in a very effective manner, just like we all worked together as one country and defeated the wide polio viruses,” Shuaib said.