Fake vaccine from China to Africa, federal government raises alarm

 The Federal Government of Nigeria has raised alarm over three thousand full doses of fake COVID19 vaccines sent from China to Africa.

The Director of Hospital Services of  the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Doctor Adebimpe Adebiyi, made this clear  in a letter dated March 26, 2021, to the Chief Medical Directors/Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Health Institutions.

The letter reads..

“The Ministry is in receipt of a letter from the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 regarding the arrest of about 3,000 doses of fake COVID-19 vaccines which were Africa-bound from China.

The report further indicates that the fake COVID-19 vaccines are already in circulation in Africa.

To prevent the importation of fake vaccines, kindly note that the Nigeria Customs Service has designated Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport as the only Point of Entry (PoE) for imported COVID-19 vaccines.

I am therefore to bring this to your notice and dispel any possibility of COVID-19 vaccines being available for sale or being administered by any unauthorized institution. Please accept the assurances of my best regards.”

As of the time of writing this report, The Nation reporter tried to reach Dr Adebiyi via calls to authenticate the said letter, but to no avail.

However, a top source in the FMoH confirmed to The Nation that the letter is authentic, and emanated from the Ministry to the CMDs and MDs of Federal Tertiary Health Institutions across the country.