Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has warned that the only options still available for Nigerians to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are the social distancing and other preventative measures announced, saying a vaccine was still far off from development.
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According to him, “with regard to the vaccines, I have said it before that this is a new virus and there is a lot of furious scientific research going to learn more about it, its behaviour, about creating the vaccines for it; very many laboratories are working on it in the United States.
“In Nigeria, we have succeeded in going to the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research in Lagos in determining the genetic sequence of this virus, which is a big hit, the first time it’s been done in Africa. And it’s been confirmed to be identical with the genetic composition of the virus going on in Italy when the index case came in here. So, that is a scientific feat.
“Some laboratories are using that genetic sequencing in sort of a reverse way to generate antibodies that will take care of this disease. Our scientists here are looking within the limits of their capabilities – taking a deeper look at the coronavirus to see what they can learn from it and what they can contribute to the national body of knowledge about it. So, the active participation is there. But even if you created a vaccine today, it has to undergo trials to make sure it is safe to use. Because a vaccine is not just to prevent you from contracting an illness, it is to also ensure that the vaccine doesn’t turn out to be an illness, something that harms you. So a lot of clinical trials must be done to ensure it is safe and that it works.
“Scientific projections are that will take like one year. To get a vaccine that works is one thing but for you to take approval from the approval authorities – that is NAFDAC in Nigeria – and the United States, to get a proof that it actually does what it’s meant to do and a proof that it does not cause any harm; so that will take about a year. Vaccine is still a long way off and so we have to focus on our social distancing and other measures to fight this virus.”
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The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, on his part added that any institution across the country interested in starting the research in developing a vaccine can go ahead, saying “ours is to support.”
According to him, “most of the research coming out across the world are not being driven by government.”
Throwing more light on the number of tests being done in a day, Ihekweazu said: “We are on 500 testing per day working towards 1,000 by next week. This is still a trajectory. And we have included Abakiliki in the last couple of days and a series of other labs that will be included over time.
“We cannot announce the number of tests done every single day, but we will include it in our update and make it available to the public. So that you know how many tests are being carried out and what proportion are positive. These tests are being done across many labs, the more labs we have the more complex it is to get these data. Because remember we are not only testing for new cases, every single case is being done until they clear the virus.”