The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has expressed the readiness and capacity of Nigeria to now produce COVID-19 vaccines of international standard.
Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the agency made this known on Saturday during the oversight visit of the house of representatives committee on COVID-19 to the NAFDAC facilities and COVID-19 laboratory projects in Lagos.
Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC media consultant, in a statement on Sunday, quoted Adeyeye as saying: “To ensure that the health sector is strengthened, NAFDAC must be strengthened, if the regulatory agency is not strengthened, the industry will not be strengthened.
“We have the African Free trade Agreement already here with us now for the nation’s pharmaceutical industry to take advantage of with quality products.
“There will be a lot of competition and if NAFDAC’s laboratory is not strengthened, we will not be able to compete.
“For Vaccines, we are hoping that the vaccine facilities from the public-private partnership will soon happen but if the regulatory agency is not strong, we can make vaccine that will destroy our own people.
“Nigeria can now make its own vaccines and we can assure the populace that there is quality in whatever is being manufactured because of NAFDAC’s strength.”
Adeyeye commended the COVID-19 the healthcare committees of the national assembly for committing to ensuring that NAFDAC is known internationally.