The American and Russian made Moderna and Sputnik COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in Nigeria by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Moji Adeyeye made the announcement on Thursday at a news conference in Abuja, noting that the vaccines were approved for emergency use.
The Sputnik vaccine produced in Russia, has not yet been approved by the World Health Organisation, according to Professor Adeyeye.
She explained that NAFDAC has carried out independent checks on the vaccine and found that the benefits outweigh the risks.
“Sputnik V is yet to receive the EUL approval and therefore was subjected to full six-month review by NAFDAC. The Agency was granted access to the dossiers and prior assessment reports of Moderna and AstraZeneca from the WHO website at different times over the past two months.
“The Agency did a thorough assessment of each vaccine and were found to have the quality, safety, and efficacy attributes, with the benefits far outweighing the risks.”
The agency had earlier approved the Oxford-Astrazeneca and Pfizer jabs, also for emergency use.
The New Diplomat had earlier reported that Nigeria is currently experiencing a third wave of the Covid outbreak following spike in cases.
On Wednesday, the students of University of Lagos (UNILAG) were asked to vacate campus hostels over Covid concerns.
While physical lectures were put on hold till July 26, classes would continue through virtual means.
The University management on Wednesday made the decision at an emergency senate meeting, summoned by Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the Vice-Chancellor of the varsity over the potential third wave of COVID-19.
The University had earlier confirmed that the medical centre had recorded an increase in the number of patients with COVID-19 symptoms.
