COVID-19: NAFDAC approves AstraZeneca vaccine for Nigeria

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved the use of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria, two days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) granted emergency use authorisation of the vaccines.

NAFDAC Director General Mojisola Adeyeye made the announcement during a live briefing on Thursday, February 18, 2021.

She also says there are three other vaccines undergoing evaluation and clinical trials.

She adds that tests have shown that AstraZeneca vaccine is effective against the UK strain of the novel coronavirus which has been detected in Nigeria.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye [First Reports Online] Pulse Nigeria

The WHO gave the green light for the vaccines on Monday, February 15, 2021, ending a wait to have them rolled out globally through COVAX, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The AstraZeneca/Oxford product, a viral vectored vaccine called ChAdOx1-S, has been found to have 63.09% efficacy and is suitable for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements.

Of the 88 million AstraZeneca doses allocated to Africa for the first phase, Nigeria will receive 16 million doses, the largest allocation.

The vaccines are expected to start arriving before the end of February, according to WHO and Nigerian officials.