The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has said vaccines produced in Nigeria, including those for COVID-19, will be of internationally acceptable standards.

A statement on Sunday by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, quoted the Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, as saying this during an oversight visit to the agency’s facilities and COVID-19 laboratory projects in Lagos by the House of Representatives Committee on COVID 19.

Adeyeye noted that the health sector had hitherto been neglected before the present administration responded through the COVID-19 committees of the National Assembly.

“If the regulatory agency is not strengthened, the industry will not be strengthened. We have the African Free Trade Agreement already here with us now for the nation’s pharmaceutical industry to take advantage of with quality products.

“For the vaccine, we are hoping that the vaccine facilities from the public-private partnership will soon happen, but if the regulatory agency is not strong, we can make a vaccine that will destroy our own people,” she said.

With NAFDAC now very strong with the World Health Organisation Maturity Level 3 certification, Adeyeye added, “Nigeria can now make her own vaccines, and we can assure the populace that there is quality in whatever is being manufactured because of NAFDAC’s strength.”

On the impact that the COVID-19 funds has made, she said this should resonate well with the whole country that if the right people are put in the right places, the vision of the government could be realised.

The Chairman, House Committee on COVID-19, Haruna Mshelia, commended the NAFDAC DG and her management team for leveraging the latest technology to upgrade the agency to a standard that is second to none in Africa.