WHO speaks on vaccine for Covid-19 treatment in Nigeria

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has insisted that there was no approved vaccine for the treatment of Covid-19 either in Nigeria, or any part of Africa.

WHO Immunisation Team lead, Dr Fiona Braka stated this on Monday, adding that the virus being a new disease, has no ready vaccines.

She said that public safety was the key focus of WHO campaign for now.

Braka spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on what WHO was doing over the reported vaccines for the deadly virus.

She said, “COVID-19 is a new disease, and as such, there are no ready vaccines available to be deployed for the control of the pandemic.

“However, a lot of research and scientific works are ongoing to develop vaccines, but these usually take time to ensure that it is safe for use in the wider population and also effective for control of the pandemic. Public safety is a key consideration in this process.”

Describing claims of vaccines developed for the treatment of Covid-19 as fake, Braka said, “WHO is not aware of vaccine for COVID-19 in Nigeria. There is a large scientific study (clinical trial) involving many countries to review the effectiveness of some drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 going on at the moment.

“The result of this clinical trial will help understand the efficacy of these drugs and may inform the review of the case management guidelines.”

Assessing Nigeria’s performance in curbing the spread of the deadly virus, Braka said:

“Nigerian Government through the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and supported by WHO had developed a preparedness plan for COVID-19 and was implementing this plan when the first case was reported.

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“A network of five COVID testing laboratories was set up before the confirmation of the first case and has since been expanded to six additional laboratories over the past two weeks, making a total of 11 laboratories currently.

“From the onset of the outbreak, WHO has developed clinical guidance with input from clinicians around the globe, including in Nigeria.

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“These resources include the updated Clinical Management Guidance for COVID-19, the Clinical Care training materials, and the Global COVID-19 Clinical Data Platform, the data tool which makes it possible for WHO to collect core clinical data from hospitalised patients to inform understanding of COVID-19.

“The guidance is continually reviewed, as more evidence become available. The government has scaled up isolation facilities capacity at state level to ensure readiness to receive COVID patients.”

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