Oyewole Tomori, a professor of virology, has described Nigeria’s selection to receive mRNA technology for vaccine production as a catalyst to enhance research.
Speaking on Saturday during a programme on Arise TV, he said the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the federal government played a role in getting the technology.
The World Organisation (WHO) had on Friday announced that six African countries — Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia — would receive the technology to produce mRNA vaccines.
mRNA is the advanced technology used by companies such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for their COVID-19 shots.
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Explaining the process towards Nigeria’s selection, Tomori said: “This is the best news so far for us in this country but one message I want to pass out is that when a country speaks with one voice, such a country will go far.
“This whole thing that came about was done by different groups of people.
“It was NAFDAC that alerted Bio Vaccine, while bio vaccine filled the form and conducted the interview and the government played the diplomatic role.
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“All those combined made it possible.
“This development is a catalyst to move us forward in the area of skills training, financing, regulatory authorities and technology transfer to get us to where we need to be.
“I’m more excited about this because we have done well this time.”
The former vice-chancellor of the Redeemers University in Ede, however, urged the government to be consistent in its policies.
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“We need consistency and sustainability in our policies because that is the only way we can sustain and improve on whatever gain that has been made,” he said.
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