NAFDAC approves Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Thursday announced the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria.

This was announced by the Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Mojisola Adeyeye during a live briefing on Thursday, adding that the vaccine can be stored at 2 to 8-degree centigrade.

Speaking further, Professor Adeyeye said three other vaccines are currently undergoing evaluation, adding that the evaluation on Astrazeneca shows that the vaccine is effective against the UK variant of the virus which has been reported in Nigeria.

Adeyeye, who also disclosed that the South African variant has not been reported in Nigeria, said the agency has over 30 herbal medicine undergoing review for listing.

It would be recalled that the vaccine was recently approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for emergency use.

At the press briefing, NAFDAC said it got the dossier of the vaccine a week ago, and that the NAFDAC safety committee went to work immediately to evaluate its safety and efficacy for Nigerians.