By Chioma Obinna & Gabriel Olawale
WITH India suspending AstraZeneca vaccine exports, Nigeria and other low-income countries may suffer a setback in the ongoing vaccination programme.
There have been concerns within the medical world over the fate of Nigerians who are yet to receive their first jab and for those who have received the first jab and looking forward to the second. However, Good Health Weekly spoke to a renowned medical laboratory scientist, Dr Casmier Ifeanyi.
According to him, Nigeria should be more concerned about persons not receiving their vaccinations as at when due. He also expressed worry over the alleged storming of vaccination centres, only to get hold of the vaccination card. Excertps:
Following the approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Serum Institute of India, SII, took over the mass production of the vaccine with the brand name Covishield and has been producing the vaccine for Low & Middle-Income Countries, LMIC, while ensuring equity in distribution.
India has continued to lift that responsibility and the effort is quite commendable, however, the recent twist that led to temporary suspension and ban in the export of the vaccine is largely due to the rise in the COVID-19 infection recently in India.
The country deemed it fit to prioritise itself and is thinking of escalating its vaccination programme to ensure more of its citizens are covered.
Indian authorities are worried that except they place a premium on their citizens to wave off the current spike which seems like the third wave, they may not be able to meet the expectation and demand for the vaccine by other parts of the world.
So, while we sympathise with the predicament of India, it shows that we need not support anything that seems monopolistic.
If other countries in Europe or more developing countries like Nigeria can up their game in vaccine production, probably we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this mess.
We have so far received about 3.92 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been well received because the number of Nigerians that have been vaccinated according to the Executive Secretary of the NPHDA, is over half a million, which is a commendable development.
Despite the vaccine apathy, yet we have many Nigerians going out voluntarily to seek and get vaccinated. I am delighted that average Nigerians have embraced the vaccination.
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Need for a backup plan
The Indian authorities have said that this temporary suspension of supply of the vaccine will last till the end of April, we expect that by early May there may be a resumption of export of the vaccine. But the worry is if things don’t go according to plan, because the regimen for this vaccine and others is that after the first jab you are to receive the second jab between six to 12 weeks after even though some studies suggest six months.
The worry is about those that have received the first jab and whether exports would resume in time for them to obtain their second jab. If they are going to resume export soon, there will be no cause for alarm, however, I also will think there are other exports that can be explored to maintain and sustain a supply of the vaccine doses while the suspension lasts.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine is close to AstraZeneca in term of the microbial strain of the vaccine candidate, so it might be necessary that we begin to consider the supply of Johnson & Johnson version of the vaccine as a backup or plan B.
Sustenability of vaccination programme
The process so far is impressive. The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, NPHCDA, and the Federal and state ministries of health have lived up to expectation.
The challenge is not about the rollout process, the challenge is the sustainability of the vaccination programme. Very soon we will run out of vaccines – 3.92 million is small when compared to our population.
Were it not that the programme is targeting a particular category of the population, in the first phase, this 3.92 million doses is grossly inadequate.
The overall number of vaccine doses is not enough for Lagos state alone. It is important to explore how to maintain and sustain the supply chain for the vaccine.
If we are going to seek for other windows outside AstraZeneca, even if it will come at a cost on the part of the government, we should embrace it.
In the 2021 budget, there is provision for well over N400 billion, so we can leverage on that to seek for Johnson & Johnson version of the COVID-19 vaccine or any other version of the vaccine that suits our current logistics supply so that we are sure that the rollout is not broken.
Vaccine hesitancy
The elite has embraced the vaccine, but I want to tell you that ordinary Nigerians are having reservations, I don’t think adequate education is in place. I am not talking of enlightenment. The goal is to have over 70 per cent of our population covered, so we can achieve nationwide herd immunity, anything short of the goal is going to be unacceptable. So far, the managers have done their best, but a lot more needs to be done. there is room for improvement.
Adequate education is not out there to help people overcome falsehood, controversy and conspiracy theories about the vaccine.
Sharp practices at vaccination sites
My main worry is about people bribing their way to be vaccinated. Let me shock you. As a journalist, try to get hold of the green card after vaccination, we were told that it has a code, that is not true.
All the cards are the same. If one person holds the green card and another holds the green card, there is no distinction. There ought to be a flashback for the code is not go readable, Secondly, people are already accessing the card without vaccination. Why we are seeing people coming out enmasse to the vaccination centres is to see if they can get hold of the card.
If they can’t get the card, they accept the vaccination to get the card. You notice that in Lagos because Lagos is the hub of international travel in Nigeria. Next to Lagos is Abuja. Most of the other international airports are still closed, so the rush you notice is not because Nigerians are delighted to take the vaccine, it is largely the travelling populace. I had expected that the card would be person-specific rather than a unitary type of card that is indistinguishable.
That is another flop in the programme and it needs to be addressed urgently.
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