Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, said the agency is working with foreign partners to guarantee Nigeria receives vaccines with long expiration dates.
Adeyeye spoke against the backdrop of NAFDAC, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, and the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency destroying one million doses of vaccinations that expired in November.
The Nigerian News Agency reported that at the Gosa Dumping site in Abuja, 1,066,214 doses of expired AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations were destroyed.
On Wednesday in Lagos, Adeyeye told NAN that the expired vaccines had very short expiration dates, making it unable to administer them on time due to logistical issues.
She said, “When developed countries started using the vaccine for many months, we didn’t have access to them until we started receiving donations, not just through COVAX alone but from some countries also.
“The expiration date was shorter than what it was supposed to be and between the time we tested and start using it, there was not enough time and that was the only reason not because we were careless.
“But going forward, we are working with international partners to ensure the expiration date of any vaccine we will be receiving are up to five or six months.”
The DG stated that studies on the new Omnicron form of COVID-19 are still proceeding around the world.
She urged Nigerians to continue to follow the safety precautions outlined by the various health authorities in order to prevent the virus from spreading further.
“A lot is still not known about Omicron because studies are still going on globally about the variant.
“The only way to keep safe is to continue with the usage of mask, maintain social distancing, wash our hands regularly and avoid crowded areas to stay safe,” she said.
Leave a Comment