COVID vaccine: FG playing deadly game with lives of Nigerians – Dino Melaye

Former Senator, representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye has accused the Nigerian government of playing a deadly game with the lives of Nigerians with the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine.

In an interview with Root TV, the controversial senator explained that out of the four vaccines approved by the World Health Organization, Nigeria imported the least potent, and the one with a more documented side effects for its citizenry.

“I’m not saying Nigerians should not take COVID-19 vaccine, but what I am saying in essence is that —-there are four notable vaccines approved by WHO- AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and the one by Moderna. The least most potent of the four is AstraZeneca, and the one with greater side effects.

“Nigerians deserve the best and the government must carry out what I call citizen diplomacy when it comes to the issue of its citizens. They must show that they love their citizens, and desire the best for their citizens.

“If you go through for example, the aggregate of these four vaccines, Pfizer and Johnson &Johnson during the trial period, you will discover both scored above 90% in effectiveness, but AstraZeneca, the one imported by the Nigerian government for its citizens only scored 62% effectiveness 14 days after the second dose.

“Then if you also look at the side effects, this same one imported by the Nigerian government has the worst side effects. The side effects include pains, headaches, tiredness, muscle aches, fever, joint aches and nausea. With all these side effects, if it manifests in one persons, it is even more dangerous than COVID-19 itself.

“If you have a drug that has the least potency, and you left those with higher potency. One with effectiveness of 94 percent, another with 95 per cent is there, and you decided to go for the one with 62 per cent potency, I think it is not right.

“What we have now is 4 million dose of that, invariably what it means is that it is for 2 million people because you have to take two doses to have a complete shot in a population of over 200 million people that is ridiculously insignificant.

“And with the budget the CBN made available for this vaccine, N300bn, it is outrageously calamitous. It is very unfair of them to have gone for the one with the least potency,” Melaye added.