About fourteen COVID-19 herbal medicine have been listed for use in country by the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
According to NAFDAC , the medicines are now safe for consumption but how efficacious they are is to be ascertained when they undergo clinical trials.
Director General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this Thursday in Abuja after receiving a jab of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, observed that NAFDAC conducted diligent study on the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine and confirmed that it’s safe and efficacious for use against COVID-19 virus.
“We have approved about 14 COVID-19 herbal medicine for listing, meaning they are now safe for consumption but how efficacious they are is when they undergo clinical trials,” Adeyeye said.
“The government has arranged for research and development scheme for the health and we have a number of herbal medicines that are going to be used for clinical trials. But I will not be surprised if we herbal medicine that has antiviral against COVID-19,”.
Adeyeye noted that Nigeria will be getting more supply of AstraZeneca and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines soon, adding that the 14 medicines approved for listing, will now proceed to the next of clinical trials.
On why the agency granted accelerated approval for the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Adeyeye explained that from the record of the clinical trials conducted by the manufacturers and the analysis done by the agency, it’s benefits outweigh the side affects.
On the concerns about the side affects, the NAFDAC boss stated that only few persons showed some allergy after taking the AstraZeneca vaccine.
She however said that it is advisable that anyone who gets the vaccine jab should wait for 45 minutes for doctors observation before leaving the clinic.
Adeyeye said that from all indications, AstraZeneca vaccine is generally safe for use.
As for when the country will get the Johnson and Johnson vaccines, Adeyeye said that COVID-19 vaccinnes is scarce at the moment due to the fact that rich countries have ordered most of the available doses.
