“When we found out that this disease is caused by mosquitoes, we knew nobody was safe no matter where you are and that brought a lot of panic among those of us living in Enugu,” he told PREMIUM TIMES.
“Most of the government hospitals we visited said they don’t have the Yellow fever vaccines,” he said. “She said we should come fast because people were booking the vaccines. When we got there, she vaccinated me and my family, all six of us and we paid N6,000.” Contacted the following morning, a lady who identified herself as Victoria directed the reporter to her home at RCC Estate in Trans Ekulu.
Section 12 of the NAFDAC Act 2004 provides guidelines for good distribution of food and drug-related products and frowns at distributors or their agents who sell or supply vaccines in flagrant abuse of the law. Asked how they get their stockpile, Victoria said, “When you look at the card I gave you, you will see the name of the company we are working with. It is located in Abuja. My boss gets our supplies from China and India – all kinds of vaccines, not just Yellow fever.”
Mr Phillip who appeared to be in a haste sold two to the reporter at N4,000. He did not ask the reporter to show his identification as an authorised pharmacy owner or care to know if the reporter was authorised to buy and administer vaccines as stipulated by the NAFDAC guidelines. Mr Phillip said the vaccine trade is a big business and the government cannot handle it alone. He said his company is registered and has the required licences for the importation, distribution, and supply of the vaccines.“We buy from India where there is an open vaccine market. If you have the licence you can import. The government is aware of this. Optimum vaccine is registered with the C.A.C and that’s the first when it comes to this business.
According to section 1.10 of the regulation, distributors or their agents should supply pharmaceutical products only to persons or entities which are themselves authorised to acquire such products either in terms of an authorisation to act as a distributor or to sell, supply or administer products directly to a patient.
Mr Bitrus explained that such shady deals and unsafe distribution of vaccine if allowed to continue will put many lives in danger. Sharp practices in the sale and distribution of the vaccines also contribute largely to why Yellow fever vaccine rollouts in Nigeria do not achieve the desired results, health experts say.