The final development of a vaccine for the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) that has claimed over 1.5 million lives across the world has been greeted with a lot of controversy and conspiracy theories than applause which have aroused fears over the motive behind the vaccines being developed.
There are fears over not just the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, but allegations which have flooded the social media space that the vaccine is being created to depopulate Africa, change the DNA of humans, among several others.
Leading pharmaceutical giants across the world have made breakthroughs in the development of vaccines and have rolled out candidate vaccines, which include; Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, Moderna vaccine, Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, China’s Coronavac, and there over 320 more in different stages of development.
But, Africans and citizens of other western countries are hesitant to get the vaccines. Recently in Uganda, the government authorised Chinese Nationals to import Covid-19 vaccines, but warned them to limit it strictly to themselves and that no Ugandans was allowed to get the shots.
“Limit it to yourselves, we do not want it to spread in the population,” Uganda’s minister of health, Jane Ruth Aceng said.
Several Nigerians who spoke to BusinessDay SUNDAY said they were skeptical about taking the vaccines when available and others have said they would rather wait and see what would happen to those who have taken it before considering it, due to fear of safety and possible side effects.
The fears around safety are also due to the speed at which the vaccine was developed, when even other serious illnesses like HIV, cancer are yet to get a vaccine. Some others say they generally do not feel threatened by the virus, in addition to some beliefs that the virus does not exist in the first place.
The other reasons advanced are not far from the myths already spreading, that the Western world wants to depopulate Africa, control Africans, reengineer the human DNA through chip insertion among others. Those who expressed some form of readiness are the most vulnerable and are indifferent about the myths.
Read also: UNICEF frowns against hesitancy and conspiracy on COVID-19 vaccines
In spite of this, vaccines are still thought to be the best exit strategy from the pandemic and experts say all global population must be immune to stop the virus from spreading.
Experts, who spoke to BusinessDay SUNDAY however, dismissed the myth and conspiracies as mere fallacies lacking scientific evidence and urged the Nigerian government not to be distracted by it, but focus on ensuring that its citizens are vaccinated.
Senator Iroegbu, a public expert, noted that the myths that have since trailed the vaccines are typical during the development of new vaccines, while giving an instance of the polio vaccine when it was first developed. He noted that Nigerians were skeptical about taking it which contributed to the delay Nigeria witnessed in eradicating the wild polio virus.
Iroegbu noted that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been the myth that it was created in the lab to reduce the world population. He explained that these fears are largely fueled by an already existing conspiracy theory that the globalist and advanced world are plotting to reduce the world population especially in Africa.
According to him, another fear is the fact that the coronavirus vaccine particularly the Pfizer and the Moderna which has reported efficacies of 90percent is the first of their kind to use messenger RNA (mRNA), which is a genetic component of humans. This he noted has fuelled more disinformation over plans to reengineer human genetics and control humans.
He however, debunked these theories and myths, noting that they are not scientifically proven,
while also noting that there is a lot of international Covid-19 vaccine politics and battle for supremacy between the West and China.
“There are lots of economic, political religious and cultural calculations at play. The bottom line is that the vaccines have been scientifically proven. There was a race for a vaccine and the west has beaten China to it. China wants to produce and distribute freely and that has brought China’s motive to question as well as the quality of the vaccines,” he said.
Iroegbu therefore, states that government has a lot of work to do to convince and reorient its citizens. He warned that if this is not done, it would create a problem in itself.
In the same vein, Olufemi Emmanuel Babalola, President, Guild of Medical Directors (GMD), urged Nigerians not to be distracted by the theories which he described as propaganda and sheer wickedness to discourage people from taking the vaccines, but to rather focus on how it can produce the vaccine locally to ensure mass accessibility and availability.
“The development of a vaccine is a very good development; it shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel, though it may take 2 to 3 years for the effect of the vaccines to be felt.
“There is a difference between having a vaccine and the process of vaccination; this is where the real challenge lies. We have to overcome this negative complaint around the vaccine, by mischievous people. It is a total lie, that it would depopulate Africa. It is mischievous and wicked,” Babalola said.
The president regrets that government’s failure to invest in research is the reason the country cannot develop its own vaccines.
While applauding the recent MoU signed by the Federal Government and Biovaccine for the local production of vaccine, Babalola said the initiative came a little late unless, the country speeds up action.
Alash’le Abimiku, executive director of the International Research Centre of Excellence of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), also agreed that the myths are common when a vaccine is being developed. She blamed it on the versatility of the social media.
“I would expect that if that is the plan, to depopulate Africa, then whoever has this grand plan will use vaccines for diseases that are found only in Africa. Right now, most of those getting the vaccines are in the developed nations, so how does this depopulate Africa?
“I believe that fear comes from the versatility of social media where a lot of misinformation is being spread. We need to provide scientific facts to the opinion leaders and the community so that their questions and concerns are addressed and the lies being spread via social media is stopped,” she said.
Abimiku however, said what is of more concern is that Nigeria does not have the capacity to procure these vaccines and should speed up action towards that.
“We do not have the adequate capacity. We do have some capacity and this might take much longer to get the vaccines to those that need it.
“A very detailed logistic planning needs to be in place now to address this challenge,” she added.
Nigeria and storage challenge
She noted that the Moderna vaccine that requires only negative 20oC (-20oC) which according to her, are temperatures of domestic chest freezers found more commonly and will thus be easier to roll out in Nigeria than the Pfizer vaccines that requires the negative 80oC (-80oC) specialized freezers found in specialized laboratories and biorepositories. .
It is reported that the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine must be stored at a temperature of around -70C and will be transported in a special box, packed in dry ice and installed with GPS trackers. Morderna is easier to store than Pfizer’s, because it stays stable at -20C for up to six months.
The Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine which shows 70percent efficacy and China’s Coronavac is reported to be one of the easiest vaccines to distribute, because it does not need to be stored at very cold temperatures.
Experts note that Nigeria could to some extent afford the AstraZeneca and the Chinese vaccines, but there are concerns of safety. The minister of health during the recent PTF briefing last Thursday, while lamenting the cost implications, said Nigeria would go for the most favourable.
“You have to look at the cost of buying and keeping it and the operational cost for distribution.
“We are looking at what is most favourable. There is a hope of vaccinating all Nigerians but we want to start with at least 20 million doses which we are expecting from the covax facilities beginning with those who are working in the health sector and at the most risk and then to vulnerable people,” the minister said.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 also admitted that Nigeria does not have the capacity. Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general, NCDC, had said the needed infrastructure for logistics poses a huge problem for Nigeria, especially the one recently developed by the global pharmaceutical giants, Pfizer.
Kuburat Daradara, director, Logistics and Commodities, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), told BusinessDay SUNDAY that the agency was not resting on its oars until it finds a solution to the storage gap by the 1st quarter of 2021 when the vaccines will be ready for distribution.
Daradara said the agency is currently in talks with GAVI, the vaccine alliance on how to get the Ultra Cold Chain (UCC) equipment by soon enough.
Meanwhile, several of the Covid-19 vaccines under development need an ultra-cold chain of minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F), while other vaccine competitors are stable at a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 F).
Nigeria will need to acquire more refrigerators and freezers from the -20 degrees to the +2 – and +8 types and ensuring cold-chain shipping, delivery, and storage infrastructure means collaborating with ice factories, transport, and logistics companies, and having generators in place so that ultra-cold storage facilities remain plugged during power cuts If it plans to receive the Covid-19 vaccine allocation nearing production.
Professor Babatunde Lawal Salako, director-general of the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), on Tuesday, 8 November said the institute is making progress with the research into Covid-19 vaccine and would in the next few months be able to come up with a candidate vaccine.
Salako said the institute was compelled to undertake the research for Covid-19 vaccine due to the public concern about its ravaging impact.
Cost, another bottleneck
Also the ED NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib said another bottleneck is funding. He said since the 2021 budget has not been assented to, there is an opportunity to have funding for the 2021 budget for Covid-19 vaccines.
The vaccine is coming at a period Nigeria is in dire fiscal straits due to low oil prices, and experts say the country may not be able to afford the vaccine unless help comes from international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and multilateral agencies.
Earlier in a report by BusinessDay, some calculation from interaction with experts shows Nigeria could need about 400 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccines, which might cost the nation up to $15.6 billion.
In July 2020, Pfizer agreed to sell its vaccine to the US government at $39 for a two-dose immunisation or $19.5 per dose. Experts say a Nigerian may need at least a two-dose immunisation, which could rally the cost to $15.6 billion. This is 45 percent of the country’s N13.083 trillion 2021 budget, meaning that certain projects could be set aside to vaccinate all Nigerians.
Some experts suggest, however, that it could cost up to $145 for a two-dose immunisation due to logistics cost to Nigeria, meaning that the country could spend up to $58 billion to vaccinate over 200 million population.
“If you are looking for an estimate of numbers of doses we need, you are looking for the impossible. For a vaccine with 100 percent efficacy and lifelong immunity, you require covering 60-72 percent of your population. Therefore, with this assumption, you will need to vaccinate between 120 and 150 million Nigerians out of our 206 million to achieve desired herd immunity,” Oyewale Tomori, professor of virology and former vice-chancellor of Redeemer’s University, told BusinessDay earlier.
“Since we need two doses per person, we are looking at between 240 and 300 million doses. However, with the Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine of estimated 90 percent efficacy, and no information on the duration of immunity, we can estimate between 300 million and 400 million, accounting for wastage, poor cold chain facilities, logistics and other associated issues. Then you have another problem, if the immunity does not last, then it may be annual vaccination,” he explained.
He noted that the calculations would also be limited by inaccurate population figures and the fact that many Nigerians might come back for the second dose.
Expert harps on need for communication, awareness
Meanwhile, Nigeria-based supply chain transformation expert Azuka Okeke, regional director, Africa Resource Centre (ARC) said that the major challenge Nigeria needs to look at how to stamp out the myths around the vaccine, saying that there is the need for communication and raising the right awareness that the vaccines are useful.
“In general a lot more work needs to be done in the area of communication, people need to know the value of Covid-19 vaccine for them as it applies to them and preparation comes from a level of awareness,” she said.
Do we have a segment of people that we feel must take the vaccine or is it something that we do like what we do for yellow fever, where some countries are placing some embargoes to accept you coming to your yellow card as an evidence because that’s the beginning of the preparation.
In Nigeria, the Covid-19 pandemic has not had much impact when compared to the Western world. Looking at how the country is functioning, people are pretty much going about the duties, schools have opened; the pandemic so to say has not really affected our paralysed system.
But the Federal Government sees the country pursuing vaccination for its citizens as industry experts and other stakeholders expect it should.
It has identified pro-activeness despite the challenges such as the lack of new modern infrastructure, poor local manufacturing capacity and lack of adequate cold chain store capacity as a wall between it and the vaccines.
According to her, if Nigeria is going with the Mordena vaccine which is suitable for our weather condition, the temperature differences would not be an issue. We have been able to keep all other vaccines which required +2 – and +8 degrees in Nigeria and even we can do much better. It is not about the temperature but the issue would then be storage and the logistics of moving the vaccines to the areas of need and even defining the areas of need.
All countries are required to put in place an ethical distribution framework once a vaccine that is safe and effective becomes available. Countries have to decide to prioritise, i.e. those that are most vulnerable to severe illness, such as the elderly, people living with chronic illness given their risk of having a severe illness and potentially death.
