Covid-19 vaccines not best for Africa – Expert

A researcher at the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Professor Richard Adegbola, has raised that alarm at the current Covid-19 vaccines being produced, saying they are not the best for Africa.

Adegbola also warned African countries to be wary of the vaccines being donated to African countries as he does not think that they are the best for the people of the continent as none of them has been evaluated in the continent.

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Adegbola, an elected member of the Sabin Vaccine Institute Board of Directors in Washington D.C., stated this at a meeting on the implementation strategy on COVID-19 vaccine development held at NIMR in Lagos on Friday.

According to him, nobody will take a vaccine in the U.S. or UK that has not been evaluated in their setting, noting that a vaccine that has high efficacy in the UK may not have a high efficacy in Africa.

He also maintained that producing a vaccine in “our settings would help to evaluate the efficacy of such a vaccine on the people of the continent.”

“I don’t think the ones available now are the best for Africans because none of them has been evaluated here.

“Nobody will take a vaccine in the U.S. or UK that has not been evaluated in their settings and a vaccine that has a high efficacy in the UK may or may not have high efficacy here in Africa,” he said.

Adegbola also noted that Africa produced only one per cent of vaccination being used in the continent, and called for the prioritisation of safety as a key element in development.

He further explained that vaccine production is different from when drugs or chemicals are being produced, noting that safety is very crucial.

He stressed that in making a vaccine that would protect people from disease, safety should be considered to prevent the researchers from getting something that is toxic or erectogenic in the process.

 “Vaccination should also be put into consideration because there is no point making a vaccine that will not get to the people who need to be vaccinated and that is why vaccine does not protect but vaccination does,” he stated.