From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, has debunked reports that COVID-19 vaccines expected in the country contains microchip and altars human genetic information.
He gave the assurance, yesterday, at a briefing of the Presidential Task Force of COVID-19, saying it would not only protect Nigerians, but would trigger an immune response that would protect the body against the virus if contracted.
“We encourage all Nigerians to get vaccinated when the vaccines become accessible as the benefits of the vaccines far outweighs the potential side effects. The chances of spreading the disease is significantly reduced once community members are vaccinated and protected, owing to the fact that the vaccines triggers an immune response that will protect your body against the virus if encountered.
“Please note that taking the vaccine will not only protect you, it will protect your love ones and community members the against the COVID-19 disease as we worked towards developing health immunity. There currently seems to be growing vaccines hesitancy and this is largely caused by misinformation leading to mistrust, doubts, suspicions and conspiracy theories. We urged the public to disregard such representation from unverified sources and listen to the medical experts for confirmed information.
“It is important to note that vaccines including COVID-19 vaccines are manufactured under strict compliance with WHO guidelines, therefore, COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any harmful substance, micro chip and does not altar Human Genetic information. Any vaccine coming to Nigeria will be tested by NAFDAC and certified safe for human use before it is administered. We will like to assure all Nigerians that this verification exercise will also be applicable to the COVID-19 vaccine and NAFDAC will continue to monitor the efficacy of the vaccine even after its administration to ensure proper documentation of any side effects. I want to reiterate that the first set of vaccine is that of Pfizer-Biotech and nRA vaccines and the equipment that are required to store them – that is the ultra-cold chain equipment for storage are available at the National Strategic Cold Store of National Primary Health Care Development Agency.”