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NAFDAC warns against fake Astrazeneca vaccination
By Modupe Shodeinde
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has cautioned Nigerians against getting vaccinated with fake AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement on Sunday, said the public should ensure that the COVID-19 AstraZeneca Vaccine being administered on them has the original label.
She added that the advice became necessary to ensure that people were not at risk of being vaccinated with the fake AstraZeneca vaccine.
Adeyeye explained that the original Oxford Astrazeneca University vaccine had been contracted to India’s world largest vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute of India (SIIPL), to produce in large quantity.
She said “AZOU gave the licence of its vaccine to Serum Institute of India PVT Limited to manufacture this vaccine at a commercial scale. SIIPL is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world and the company got the licence by signing the manufacturing agreement.
“The SIIPL gave the vaccine the trade name COVISHIELD; it is the result of cooperation and a technology transfer from AstraZeneca – University of Oxford to SIIPL.
“The SIIPL is now the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally; more than 1.5 billion doses, which include Polio vaccine, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella.”
The statement noted that vaccines manufactured by SIIPL were accredited by the World Health Organisation, and were being used in about 170 countries across the globe in their national immunisation programme.
She said both COVISHIELD manufactured by SIIPL and COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, manufactured by Astrazeneca/Oxford University vaccine are the same vaccine.
