The World Health Organisation on Monday insisted that there was no approved vaccine in Nigeria or any part of Africa for COVID-19 saying researches are still ongoing on the deadly viral disease.
WHO Immunisation Team Lead, Dr Fiona Braka, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria on the efforts of the world body on the reported vaccines for the deadly virus.
Braka said COVID-19, being a new disease, has no ready vaccines, adding that public safety was the key consideration of WHO campaign for now.
“COVID-19 is a new disease, and as such, there are no ready vaccines available to be deployed for the control of the pandemic.
“However, a lot of research and scientific works are ongoing to develop vaccines, but these usually take time to ensure that it is safe for use in the wider population and also effective for control of the pandemic.
“Public safety is a key consideration in this process,” the WHO team lead said.
Braka said that the claims of vaccines developed for the COVID-19 were untrue and not to the knowledge of the WHO.
“WHO is not aware of vaccine for COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“There is a large scientific study (clinical trial) involving many countries to review the effectiveness of some drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 going on at the moment.
“The result of this clinical trial will help understand the efficacy of these drugs and may inform the review of the case management guidelines,” she said.
On the assessment of Nigeria’s performance in curbing the spread of COVID-19, Braka said that the world health body partnership with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had been helpful.
- NAN
