UPDATED: Why NAFDAC Approved Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine For Use In Nigeria

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria.

The director-general of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this on Friday, during a virtual meeting, explained that the vaccine was for emergency use authorisation.

According to her, a review of the vaccine is possible pending information gathering from the usage.

“We have approved Pfizer BioTech Vaccine for possible use in the country. Our COVID-19 vaccine team must carefully review it to make sure that the science behind it is well understood, and also in accordance with our own regulation,” she said.

The DG stated that data gathering on the vaccine was not limited to NAFDAC, saying that the agency belonged to an organisation called the International Coalition of Medicine Regulatory Authorities( ICMRA).

“We belong to ICMRA, which is a global gathering of regulatory agencies across the country, where we share our experiences, like that of Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine,” she said.

“We have the capability because the freezer temperature is now -30 degrees unlike when it was -80 to -60 degrees temperature. So, the storage is not an issue in Nigeria,” Adeyeye explained.

She also informed that the agency was reviewing the Johnson and Johnson vaccine for COVID-19.