If the COVID19 vaccine comes into Nigeria, we need to do our own evaluation before it can be used on Nigerians. - NMA president, Professor Innocent Ujah says

As the world continues to battle the COVID19 pandemic, the president of the Nigeria Medical Association NMA, Professor Innocent Ujah, says if the COVID19 vaccines come into Nigeria, the government will need to do its own evaluation of the vaccine before it can be used on Nigerians.

 

Ujah said this while speaking as a guest on Channels TV this morning. In his words, he said

''If the vaccines come to Nigeria, we need to quickly do our own evaluation of that vaccine. I cannot say with 100% certainty that in the process of developing this vaccine and the clinical trial wether any African countries were involved. I am not too sure but it is possible. But if not, then because of the biology, environment and our genetic composition, we need to do our clinical trial before it can be used on Nigerians.

While we do not question the efficacy and safety, these things vary from place to place. The responses vary from place to place.

Recall that when we were using chloroquine, some Southern parts of the country wasn't responding to Chloroquine, the part of the North were. 

In totality, it was thought that Chloroquine wasn't effective and we changed. 

If we have to use vaccine, we need to do our own cinical trials and see. For everything that is happening now is an emergency. Even the vaccine that is produced within nine months is an emergency. Otherwise, vaccine production doesn't take within six to nine months. It is a process.''