OLAYEMI WONDER
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has approved the use of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria.
The agency’s Director-General, Prof Moji Adeyeye made this disclosure in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Statement read, “NAFDAC is hereby granting conditional emergency use authorisation for Janssen Covid-19 vaccine to prevent COVID’19 in people from 18 years of age
“After a thorough evaluation, the NAFDAC vaccine committee concluded that the data on the vaccine were robust and met criteria for efficacy, safety, and quality.
“The data has also shown that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its potential risk hence the need for approval.”
The NAFDAC DG said results from a clinical trial involving people in the United States, South Africa and Latin American countries found that Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine was effective at preventing COVID-19 in people from 18 years of age.
According to her, Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine is the third vaccine recommended in Nigeria for preventing COVID-19. The vaccine is administered as a single dose.
The Ministry of Health and National Primary Health Care Development Agency will announce when the vaccine becomes available for use in Nigeria, the agency added.