With rising cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, there are fears that vaccines of unclear origins may have hit the country’s market after a Twitter user claimed to have taken supplies for sale at N50,000 per dose.
As Nigeria battles the second wave of COVID-19, the Nigerian government earlier this year said the country was working with the World Bank to ensure supply of the vaccine.
Nigeria, one of the African countries that have indicated an interest in the vaccine, is expected to receive the first shipment in February, officials said.
Earlier this month, health minister Osagie Ehanire, during a daily briefing on COVID-19, strongly advised Nigerians against the sale of fake vaccines, stating that “there is no one approved for use in the country and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) is the only authorised vaccine administrator in Nigeria.”
The government had also said that the first batch will be administered on 50,000 people in two doses at 21 days interval.
However, a Twitter user Day Osokoya (@ad_de_moles) advertised the vaccine, stating that two doses valued at N50,000 each would arrive in two weeks.
Another Twitter use Mayor of Riga (@atomquietmoney) also claimed to have stocks for the vaccines. He also claimed to have Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, two of the most expensive.
Peoples Gazette reached out to those who claimed to have the vaccines but they did not return requests for comments.
Nigerians have raised concerns about how the purported vaccines were procured, including journalist David Hundeyin who warned people to desist from getting vaccines at the black market, saying it was likely going to be a rip-off.
Also, Emeka Oguanuo, a spokesman for the Nigerian disease control office NCDC, described the sale of the vaccine as “crazy”, adding that “I haven’t seen such, but given our country, I won’t be surprised.”
Lagos health commissioner Akin Abayomi could not be reached for comments on Sunday evening. (Peoples Gazette)
