The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved the use of the Pfizer Biotech Vaccine in cases of emergencies in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
This was disclosed by the Director-General, NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, at a virtual meeting on Friday.
She charged the country’s COVID-19 vaccine team to review the vaccine with caution and ensure that it aligns with the available regulation.
Adeyeye said, “We have approved Pfizer Biotech Vaccine for possible use in the country.
“Our COVID-19 vaccine team must carefully review it to make sure that the science behind it is well understood, and also in accordance with our own regulation.”
“We used different mechanisms to approve COVID-19 vaccine, and one of them is called reliance, meaning that a more matured regulatory agency across the globe has already approved such vaccine.
“We can use that as a basis for our own review by getting the assessment report, know the peculiarities and our COVID Vaccine Committee will then do their job.
“We also can go ahead to review, if the World Health Organisation (WHO) has given emergency use lifting, meaning they have done their job.
READ ALSO: British Pharma, Astrazeneca, Makes $275m From Sale Of COVID-19 Vaccine
“For Pfizer biotech vaccine, both cases are through, because more matured agencies have approved the vaccine.
“The approval is not a full approval, it is within the period of getting people vaccinated and gathering of data about the adverse effect following immunisation.”
She added that the agency had “started their work to ensure all the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed to ensure that post-vaccination regulatory activities such as pharmacology vigilance or safety monitoring are put in place.
“So, it is not just the vaccination alone, it is what happens after that.”
