The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Kaduna State Chapter, has said the COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t have any other adverse effect on humans, therefore recommended its use.
The State, Chairman of PSN Pharm. Talatu Uwa Ebune expressed this while fielding questions from journalists on the sidelines of the World Pharmacists Day 2021 held in Kaduna.
According to her, the vaccine has been tested by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), saying there is enough information from WHO and others on the vaccine.
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Pharm. Ebune warned the public against embracing falsehood being spread on Social Media on the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine.
She tasked the media to educate the public on what constitutes fake news.
Similarly, Pharmacist Abdullahi Galadima said Nigerians are hesitant in taking the Covid-19 vaccine because information about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine is not readily available to the people,
Galadima, the National Vaccine Security and Logistic Consultant with World Health Organisation, said this while delivering a lecture to mark the World Pharmacist Day organized by Pharmacist Society of Nigeria, Kaduna chapter with the theme “Pharmacist Always Trusted for Your Health”. He called on health workers and pharmacists to sensitize the public on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
Speaking on the topic “Building Public Trust in Vaccine Safety and Efficacy”, Pharm. Abdullahi Galadima said, “vaccine is the cheapest and most cost-effective way of addressing the disease. It boosts natural immunity for the body to fight infection. We should expect hesitancy to take the Covid-19 vaccine because it is a novel vaccine that was rapidly developed and put into use within a short time.
“There would always be hesitancy in health issues, but when individual health workers expected to protect the integrity of the vaccine don’t have the necessary information or have ambiguous information, then there would be issues.”
Speaking on the solution to the vaccine hesitancy to enable all Nigerians to take the Covid-19 vaccine with a free mind, Galadima said, “there should be access to information, educating people, engaging in advocacy and making it available to the people free. Government should build people’s capacity to ensure that they can access information about the vaccine and the vaccine itself.
“The vaccine is safe and good, and the vaccine is effective. Every individual should be confident to take the vaccine. When blood is given to reviving someone the person doesn’t know what the blood contains or who gave the blood, people should be open and free to take the vaccine.”
Delivering the second lecture titled, “the Role of Pharmacists in Nigeria’s Immunisation Supply Chain Management”, Pharm. Aminu Kuba said the immunization supply chain comprises of the vaccine and cold chain management. “Cold chain is the cooling effect that keeps the vaccine safe and productive. Vaccines are drugs, but they are costly drugs.”
