The coronavirus (Covid-19), which originated from the city of Wuhan in China, has been a subject of controversy. The subsequent development of vaccines against the virus unlocked even more controversies and conspiracy theories. SAMSON BENJAMIN, in this report, examines some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccines.
Amidst the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) and new variants ravaging some parts of the world, many countries have queued to access vaccines for its citizens.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), recently, said Nigeria hoped to get 42 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines to cover one-fifth of Nigeria’s population through the global COVAX scheme.
The NPHCDA said the initial vaccines would come as part of the country’s plan to inoculate 40 per cent of the population this year and another 30 per cent in 2022. About 100,000 doses of the vaccine were expected to arrive the country by end of January.
COVAX, a coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations and the World Health Organisation (WHO) scheme, aimed at ensuring all countries, especially the low and middle-income countries, have access to safe, effective vaccine.
10 million more
Similarly, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, has said efforts were ongoing to secure about 10 million more doses of the approved Covid-19 vaccines for Nigerians.
Ehanire, while speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 briefing, Monday, said the country was expecting 10 million doses of the viral vector vaccine, which could be supplied as from March 2021.
He said Nigeria was participating in the African Union initiative: African Vaccine Availability Task Team, which has secured 270 million doses of various types of vaccines.
“Bearing in mind options suitable for our environment and the available infrastructure, as well as investment in delivery, Nigeria has written to express interest in 10 million doses of the viral vector vaccine, which could be supplied as from March 2021.
“Apart from the COVAX facility, which is billed to cover just 20 per cent of our population, we plan to increase our chances of getting enough vaccines to meet the country’s need,” Mr Ehanire said.
Misconceptions
Unfortunately, there has been a lot of misinformation surrounding the vaccine and its development. Some of the controversies border on the speed with which the vaccines was developed, its safety, religious biases, possible allergies, among others.
Speaking with Blueprint Weekend, an epidemiologist at the State House Clinic, Abuja, Dr Abel Obaje, said false information was a barrier to effective vaccination programme.
He said, “With the introduction of the preventive vaccines, countries in Europe, the Americas and in Asia have begun mass vaccinations. But false information around the pandemic remains an obstacle to the successful roll-out of vaccination especially in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
“While some allege that the vaccines are clandestine methods of incising the biblical anti-Christ marks into recipients’ bodies, others claim that the vaccines are designed to implant electronic micro-chips into peoples’ skins and then link them up with the new 5-G networks for control.
“There are also unsubstantiated claims that the vaccines will alter human genetic composition (Deoxyribonucleic Acid, DNA), a complex molecule that contains information necessary to build and maintain life.”
Microchip claims
The Founder of Microsoft has been the subject of many rumours since the outbreak of the pandemic. Ther are claims that the coronavirus pandemic was a cover for a plan to implant track-able microchips and that the Microsoft Co-Founder, Bill Gates, was behind it.
However, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in a statement, said the claim was ‘false’.
“There is no vaccine microchip and there is no evidence to support claims that Bill Gates is planning for this in the future,” the Foundation stated.
The rumours took hold in March when Mr Gates said in a viral interview, “…that eventually we will have some digital certificates which would be used to show who had recovered, who had been tested and ultimately who received a vaccine.” This led to one widely shared article headlined: “Bill Gates will use microchip implants to fight coronavirus.”
The article made reference to a study, funded by The Gates Foundation, into a technology that could store someone’s vaccine records in a special ink administered at the same time as an injection.
However, a scientist involved in the study, Ana Jaklenec, has said Gates was targeted because of his philanthropic work in public health and vaccine development.
“The technology is not a microchip and is more like an invisible tattoo. It has not been rolled out yet, and would not allow people to be tracked and personal information would not be entered into a database,” she said.
Facts
Also, speaking with Blueprint Weekend on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccine, a lecturer with the Department of Pharmacy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr Patrick Emeje, said the conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccines are unnecessary thus, should be disregarded.
“I make bold to say that all these conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic are needless distortions. The vaccine is proven safe and effective. Although it was developed in record time, it has gone through the same rigorous Food and Drug Administration process as every other vaccine, meeting all safety standards.
“No steps were skipped. Instead, we can thank the unprecedented worldwide collaboration and investment for the shorter timeframe on the development of the vaccine itself. The clinical trials and safety reviews actually took about the same amount of time as other vaccines.
“The first vaccines granted emergency use authorization contain messenger RNA (mRNA), which instructs cells to make the “spike protein” found on the new coronavirus. When the immune system recognizes this protein, it builds an immune response by creating antibodies, teaching the body how to protect against future infection. The mRNA never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA (genetic material) is kept. The body gets rid of the mRNA soon after it’s finished using the instructions.”
Storage challenge
However, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research has said there was not enough space at the moment to store the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccines which are expected to arrive next week.
The Director-General of NIMR, Prof. Babatunde Salako, said this in a recent interview with a national media, noting that Nigeria had freezers in different parts of the country to store the Pfizer vaccines at -70 degrees centigrade.
He, however, said most of these freezers were occupied and were storing medical supplies which also needed to be stored at a low temperature.
Salako said, “Our facilities can hold Pfizer vaccines at -70 degrees but we don’t have enough of such freezers and the ones we have are even full at the moment.
“We even just got one that we have yet to install but how many samples can it even hold?
Even if we rearrange things, I doubt if we can store more than a few hundred or thousands.”
When asked if other facilities besides NIMR could hold such vaccines, he said: “There are many -80 freezers around in the research institutes and universities but the point is that many of them have samples inside them. So, even if we evacuate, I don’t think we will all be able to do more than a few thousands.”
Salako, however, said storage was the minor problem, as the major challenge would be how to transport the vaccines at the temperature of -70 to rural areas.
The NIMR boss argued that in the future, Nigeria may need to buy other brands that do not require such low temperature like Pfizer.
Salako noted that other brands like Oxford/AstraZeneca could be stored at normal freezer temperature while the Russian vaccine could also be stored at a temperature not as low as Pfizer.
He said, “The problem is not just about storing vaccines but moving it to the rural areas and maintaining that same temperature.
“For example, if you land in Lagos and you store it at -70 and it has to be transported over the creek somewhere, how do you move them? There are other ways but they will be very costly. They can store them with liquid nitrogen or even dry ice but it will cost a lot of money.
“AstraZeneca would have been better because it would stay at normal freeze temperature and I think even Russian vaccines can be stored at the same temperature but I think the government is going with Pfizer because the WHO has given it an emergency approval.
“But I think all the vaccines are now being deployed in many countries. So, we can do all of them rather than do just one considering the storage capacity for Pfizer. Even the government knows that we don’t have enough space but we can be taken in batches.”
FG reacts
Reacting to some of the conspiracy theories, especially on social media, the federal government has appealed to Nigerians not to be hesitant to take the Covid-19 vaccine when it gets to Nigeria.
The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, made the appeal at the PTF on Covid-19 briefing, last week Thursday in Abuja.
According to Shuaib, President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo and other prominent Nigerians were willing to be among the first set of Nigerians to receive the vaccine on live television to help drive acceptance.
He also emphasised that health workers would be given priority to take the Covid-19 vaccine when it arrives Nigeria because they are the ones in direct contact with cases in isolation units.
“This is in accordance with terms of the prioritisation of vaccines and strategic country leadership. These critical leaders and others would likely take the vaccine in full glare of the public to demonstrate that this vaccine is safe. So, we have to make provisions for them.
“Even in developed countries, what we have seen is that, apart from the prioritisation of health workers, you have to also identify with critical leaders that you don’t want to be wiped off by the virus.
“For example, in warfare, if you want to destroy your enemies, you look for specific leaders, captains, the generals; once you decapitate them, then the soldiers will become weak.
“So, as much as possible, you do not want to also leave your leaders vulnerable to Covid-19, it doesn’t mean you want to prioritise politicians, that is not correct.
Continuing, he said, “So, I will like to reiterate that you must not give way to conspiracy theories. We must try to manage the information around the vaccines. Where people do not understand please reach out to those who are scientists and public health experts. All of us here are Nigerians who take the issue of the safety of Nigerians seriously,” he said.
World leaders set pace
In a bid to drive the acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine the U.S President-elect, Joe Biden, in December 2020, received a vaccine on live television, in a demonstration intended to encourage Americans to receive shots when they could.
Also, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was vaccinated against the Covid-19 on live television, becoming the first Israeli and one of the world’s leaders to be inoculated.
… Govs too
Similarly, many Nigerian governors will be given Covid-19 vaccine on live television to encourage Nigerians to accept the vaccine.
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, who addressed journalists recently in Abuja, after meeting with President Buhari, assured that members of the forum had accepted to be inoculated on live TV.
“Absolutely,” Mr Fayemi answered when asked if governors will also take the vaccines on live television, adding that: “We too will like to demonstrate to our citizens that we believe that vaccines would work.
“Don’t forget, we have a lot of experience on this. Governors Forum managed the polio vaccines administration in the country and we have garnered a lot of experience,” he said
Fayemi said the motive behind getting the vaccine administered on live television was to reassure the general public that the vaccine was safe.
He said the number one priority in vaccine management relates to public health and risk communication.
He commended the PTF on its plans to use prominent Nigerians as publicity vehicles for reassuring the public of the safety of the vaccines.
The forum chairman noted that state leaders were working hard to prevent cultural and religious factors that may discourage people from getting administered.
“The good thing is Mr President has agreed with me that he would convey to the PTF the necessity of using other influencers, maybe the chief Imams, the bishops, top musicians, our sports personalities
“The more of such people are seen taking the vaccines the more the likelihood of resistance will break down in our various localities.” Fayemi said.
No class distinction
Similarly, the Senate has assured Nigerians that the political elite would not be the first beneficiary of the vaccines expected to arrive soon by the Nigerian government.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, said this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.
He said the joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives had held several meetings with officials of the ministry of health on modalities for the administration of the vaccines.
He said it was agreed that the health personnel on the front line should be the first set of Nigerians to be vaccinated.
Utazi noted that those already on admission at the various isolation centres and the elderly with cases of underlining ailments would also be considered before administering the vaccines on members of the general public.
“What the PTF has been doing, in concert with the ministry of health, and the NPHCDA, is to ensure that we get the quantity that we need as a country. What they are doing is not to favour anybody.
“There are some that we are expecting from donor agencies and development partners who are trying to help us.
“The last meeting we had was on how to raise enough funds to purchase adequate quantity of the vaccines to make for the shortfall that we had in the in the provision we made in the budget of 2021. We did not agree that any class of people should be given preferential treatment.
“The normal approach adopted anywhere in the world is that the health personnel that are at the front line, treating patients should first of all protect themselves.
“We will then look at the poor in society, those in the isolation centres across the country, both private and public health institutions. The elderly and those with underlining ailments would be taken care of.
“Nobody has proposed preferential treatment in the administration of the vaccines and there will be no preferential treatment extended to anybody,” the lawmaker stated.
Way forward
Meanwhile, public enlightenment has been advocated as a major means of to dispelling the rumours and misconceptions.
A public affairs commentator, Mr Olukotun Shittu, in a chat with Blueprint Weekend said: “The antidote to misinformation is credible information. Government must intensify its efforts to inform and educate the people through all available channels, utilising not just the traditional and mass media, but also the new media.
“Ensuring smooth Covid-19 vaccination process in Nigeria is a task that must be done if the war against the pandemic is to be won,” he said.
