The Nigerian Government on Friday disclosed it has received samples of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The samples were received from the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Alex Shebarshin, on Friday, September 4, 2020.
The vaccine was received by the Minister for Health, Osagie Ehanire.
The Director of Information, Media and Public Relations of the Ministry of Health, Olujimi Oyetomi, in a statement, disclosed that the Russian envoy made the delivery while on a courtesy visit to the ministry in Abuja.
The statement pointed out that Ehanire has referred the vaccine to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control – NAFDAC – and the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development and others for review and possible validation.
Meanwhile, the technology institute for the Brazilian state of Paraná said on Friday it plans to conduct phase III trials on 10,000 volunteers in Brazil at the start of next year.
Jorge Callado, head of Paraná’s Technology Institute, known as Tecpar, said approval for the trial will be requested of Brazil’s health regulator, ANVISA, by the end of this month.
Doses will be imported for the tests and Tecpar plans to start producing the vaccine for Brazil’s market in the second half of 2021. Tecpar could eventually look to export to Latin American neighbours, Callado said.
Paraná is one of several Brazilian states that have struck out on their own to secure access to COVID-19 vaccines, motivated at least in part by a distrust of the federal government’s response.