Nigeria To Receive Monkeypox Vaccine From US Govt

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has met with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to strengthen international partnerships for technical support, staff training and monkeypox vaccine donation.

Adeyeye, who is currently in Washington DC for a series of meetings, announced on Tuesday that Nigeria will soon receive donation of monkeypox vaccine from US government.

Initial plans for the donation were discussed in a meeting between NAFDAC, the United States Department of State, Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) and USAID.

Follow-up of the discussions lean towards Bavarian Nordic, Dutch vaccine manufacturer, sending the dossier directly to NAFDAC.

She stated that the option to receive the vaccine directly from the manufacturer was based on the reliance pathway that the agency uses for review of vaccines that have been previously approved for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by well established NRAs such as US FDA, Health Canada, European Medicine Agency (EMA), etc.

The NAFDAC DG highlighted the strategic and beneficial relationship between USAID and NAFDAC which more recently has included support of traceability through donation of 2D android-enabled scanners, personnel training, and personnel support for in-country serialisation.