TheCable

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria.

Mojisola Adeyeye, the director-general of NAFDAC, disclosed this during a media briefing on Thursday.

On Monday, Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, said the federal government had sent vaccine dossiers of Sputnik V from Russia and AstraZeneca manufactured by the Serum Institute of India for evaluation and approval by NAFDAC.

Ehanire said it was important for NAFDAC to approve the vaccines because “all COVID-19 vaccines carry a certain amount of risks and any vaccines not approved” cannot be used in Nigeria.

During the media briefing, Adeyeye said there were three additional vaccines undergoing evaluation. She said the evaluation of the AstraZeneca vaccine shows that it is effective against the UK variant of the virus-B117- which has also been found in Nigeria.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for emergency use on Monday.

In its review, WHO said the AstraZeneca vaccine met the “must-have” criteria for safety, and its efficacy benefits outweighed its risks.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, also known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, or AZD1222, is a viral vector vaccine.