Vaccine: Experts Say Production In Nigeria Faces Impediments

During a symposium on Wednesday in Abuja to mark the African Vaccine Week (AVW), several stakeholders in the health sector had gathered to review the progress of immunisation in Nigeria. They all agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed several inefficiencies in the production and distribution of vaccines in Africa.

The symposium was organised by the West African Institute of Public Health (WAIPH) with the support of the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health @scale (PACFaH@Scale/PAS), amongst other partners. Attendees of the one-day high-level event with the theme; “Equitable Vaccines Access: Resilient Communities were Health experts, government officials, civil society organisations, and international partners.” The AVW is an annual event celebrated during the last week of April with the aim of promoting the use of vaccines to protect Africans from preventable diseases.

The COVID-19 pandemic emergence highlighted the importance of local vaccine production especially in developing countries like Nigeria who depend on global arrangements such as COVAX which often prioritises wealthier countries. On the other hand, more than two years after the pandemic hit Nigeria, the country’s local vaccine production plan, Biovaccine, has not taken off yet despite the government’s commitment of N10 billion ($26,315,789) to set up a vaccine production company.

The situation builds on previous attempts to revamp local vaccination plans in the country which had failed. Attempts to revamp the Federal Vaccine Production Laboratory at Yaba in Lagos State which was locally producing vaccines in Nigeria until it was shut in 1991 has not yielded positive results promoting the continued reliance on imported vaccination and donations.

As he spoke at the symposium, Oyewale Tomori, a professor of virology and former president of the Nigeria Academy of Science, said that the local vaccine production in Nigeria will remain a tall dream if some key issues hindering the efforts are not addressed. He made a presentation on equitable vaccine access, resilient communities, and addressed the sub-themes that relate to global strategies for leaving no one behind, decolonising vaccine production and strengthening the vaccine learning ecosystem.

Mr. Tomori, who is also the Chairman of Bio-vaccine Board which is the company commissioned by the federal government for local production of vaccines in Nigeria, had lamented about Nigeria’s poor research capacity. He said that for Africa to witness a growth in vaccine production, the leaders must accept the knowledge and capacity of young persons for physical development in the country.

The professor said that countries who are producing vaccines today have invested in their research and development for many years. He also added that COVID-19 vaccines that are currently in use were the products of lots of research. He described Africa’s over-dependence on foreign countries as dangerous. Mr. Tomori said that Africans were amongst the last persons to receive the COVID-19 vaccines “because the suppliers must fulfill the needs of their people before sending some doses out.”

Mr. Abdulsalami Nasidi, a pioneer director of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), also stressed the need for African leaders to act fast in setting up policies and create an enabling environment that will ensure equitable vaccine production to meet teeming demands. He said that investments must be followed with proper accountability and transparency. He noted that the experience of the defunct Yaba vaccine centre should serve as a big lesson to the Nigerian government.

Francis Ohanyido, the director-general of WAIPH, organisers of the event, said that one of the biggest challenges to vaccine distribution in Nigeria is poor health literacy, especially in rural communities. He said the involvement of civil societies is important for Africa to achieve successful local vaccine production and distribution. Mr. Ohanyido also noted that the media has a major role to play in expanding knowledge and awareness of vaccines.