*I cannot say with 100 percent certainty that in the process of developing this vaccine, in the clinical trials, whether any African countries were involved. I’m not too sure, but it’s possible, says Prof. Innocent Ujah, President of Nigerian Medical Association

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has said that COVID-19 vaccines being imported into the country must undergo a quick clinical trial before they are administered to the citizens.

Prof. Innocent Ujah, President of NMA, who stated this during an appearance on a Channels TV programme, Monday, December 28, said: “If the vaccines come to Nigeria, we need to quickly do our own evaluation of the vaccines.

“I cannot say with 100 percent certainty that in the process of developing this vaccine, in the clinical trials, whether any African countries were involved. I’m not too sure, but it’s possible.

“Then, because of the biology, because of the environment, because of our genetic composition, we need to do our own clinical trials very quickly before it can be used on Nigerians.

The NMA President stated: “While we do not question the efficacy and safety, the responses vary from place to place.

“Recall that when we were using chloroquine, the southern part was not responding to chloroquine, some parts of the north were. But in totality it was thought that chloroquine was no longer effective and we changed.”

The NMA is also seeking additional funding from the Federal Government as doctors continue to suffer from the deadly pandemic.

Ujah further noted: “We don’t want anybody to die in the service of their country.  That’s why we talk about infection prevention and control.

“And we believe that working with the Federal Government, the PTF, and the Ministry of Health, we need to continually train our health workers – doctors, nurses – and anyone who has anything to do with patients on infection prevention and control.

ConsumerConnect reports Dr. Enema Amodu, Chairman of NMA, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter, recently revealed that about 20 medical doctors died in the past week after contracting COVID-19

The doctors died in the course of treating infected patients who failed to disclose their true health status, according to Dr. Amodu.