Vaccines In Circulation In Nigeria, NAFDAC Raises Alarm

 Vaccines In Circulation In Nigeria, NAFDAC Raises Alarm

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control on Sunday warned Nigerians to be wary of fake COVID–19 vaccines in the country.

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The organisation also warned Nigerians to “refrain from procuring the vaccine online to avoid falling into the wrong hands of merchants of death.”

The agency warned Nigerians to be vigilant and expose anyone who might want to divert COVID-19 vaccines donated by international donors for profiteering.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, issued the warning in a statement by its Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola.

She said, “The public must be on the lookout for these spurious and counterfeit vaccines and other regulated products”, she warned.

No fewer than 5,000 health personnel in the Federal Capital Territory will receive the COVID-19 vaccines on Monday (today) and Tuesday.

The frontline workers would be given the jabs at the Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, where the vaccination would be inaugurated by the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello.

Disclosing this to our correspondent on the telephone on Saturday, the acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr Mohammed Kawu, explained that other categories of residents would be vaccinated subsequently.

Kawu said, “By Monday, we start with health workers only; we would take all the heath workers Monday, Tuesday or so; whether you are private, whether you are public. After that we would announced the next group.  In FCT public hospitals, we have about 5,000 workers but we are collating, we have not got the number of health workers in the private hospitals.”

He further said other individuals would be directed to any of the 65 vaccination points across the six area councils in the FCT for their jabs.

There are 25 vaccination centres in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, 10 in Bwari, 10 in Gwagwalada, eight in Kuje, seven in Kwali and five in Abaji area council.

Recall that the vaccination of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was greeted with cynicism in some quarters.

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In what appeared to be a move to lead by example and boost public confidence on the safety of the vaccine, Buhari alongside vice-president Yemi Osinbajo received doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Suhayb Sanusi Rafindadi, the president’s personal physician, administered the vaccine on Buhari, while the vice-president’s shot was administered by Nicolas Audiferren, his personal physician.

When photographs and videos showing Buhari and Osinbajo receiving the doses of the vaccine in their arms appeared on social media, they sparked reactions from many Nigerians, especially on the microblogging platform, Twitter.

One user appeared to suggest Buhari did not take the vaccine because he took the jab on his right arm while the vice-president took it on his left arm.

He tweeted: “Don’t mind those people jawe, Buhari receive his own shot on the right upper arm while Osinbajo receive his own on the left upper arm. Who are they deceiving ? Or it’s not the same vaccine they received?”

Another Twitter user @Rufson4 asked, “Please I need a clarification on this matter,  the site of the given covid-19 vaccine is upper left arm, why the service provider administer it on right upper arm?”

But in his own comment, @bunmimakinwa wrote, “@MBuhari took #CovidVaccine I wonder why he chose the right arm. The left arm appears to be most favored by others. Anyways, taking vaccine this way is great for advocacy especially against anti-vaccine and anti-Covid-19 vaccines critics.”

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a public health agency in the US, in a report on the administration of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, said the vaccine should be administered into the deltoid muscle of the arm.

Also, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in an interim guidance for the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine said the vaccine should be administered into the deltoid muscle.

Where is the deltoid muscle located in the body? Deltoid muscle is located at the arm region, which forms the rounded contour of the human shoulder. It can be found in both arms — left and right.

Medical experts say the president can decide what arm to receive the vaccine since it does not break any medical procedure for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.