THE Centre for Information Technology and Development CITAD) has called for a more transparent process in the management of expired Covid-19 vaccines so as to assure the public on the safety of the vaccines and effectively combat vaccine resistance.
A press statement signed by CITAD’s Executive Director, Engr. Y.Z. Ya’u, on Thursday called on the relevant authorities, particularly the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, to not only disclose the batch numbers of the expired vaccines but also disclose “where these vaccines are or were” or state in clear and “transparent process of the withdrawal of the expired vaccines up to the stage of burning so that journalists and other stakeholders can follow up and assure the public that such expired vaccines are truly removed from the system.”
Such openness, Ya’u said, will make it easier to overcome vaccine resistance by assuring the public through independent voices of the quality of the vaccine.
“CITAD believes that transparency is an important element in building and maintaining public confidence that is critical to getting the people to take the jab. The Ministry of Health has the important responsibility to do that in this delicate time of a near-panic globally over the new variant of the virus,” Ya’u stressed.
CITAD, with support from MacArthur Foundation, is implementing a public education project on the COVID-19 vaccines, the aim of which is to increase uptake of the vaccine to protect citizens across states in Northern Nigeria, including Kaduna, Bauchi among other states, the statement also noted.
The statement also added that in the course of CITAD’s work, it had come across cases of vaccine resistance which is fuelled by misinformation and disinformation about the vaccine.
“We are working hard through the media and other means to combat this.
“In the field, as we work with our partners, we first heard that there were expired vaccines in some of the vaccine stocks of the country. We considered this as one more instance of rumour that we had to combat.
“However, as we were trying to reach out to health officers to help disabuse the rumour, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, was reported in the news (see Daily Trust, December 9, 2021, page 13) admitting that indeed that there were expired vaccines but these were not in circulation and that government was planning to burn them.
“While an early admittance along with clear steps to remove the expired vaccine will help in assuring the public about the safety and quality of the vaccines available at vaccination outlets, we feel that this has to be handled carefully and with greater transparency and openness that will assure the public that no expired vaccines will be allowed at any vaccination outlet.”
