AfricaPress-Tanzania: HEALTH experts and medical scientists have commended President John Magufuli’s firm stance against the use of Covid- 19 vaccines before verifying their efficacy.
They lauded it as a crucial decision in safeguarding the health of the country’s citizens.
The experts said other countries in Africa are already following the suit after realising the need to research more before applying the vaccine to their people.
On Monday, South Africa suspended its vaccination campaign against the global pandemic after discovering that it was less effective against a variant of the virus found in South Africa.
The plan came with a recommendation to strengthen the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in order to respond effectively to emergencies and complex health challenges, as a specialised technical institution of the African Union (AU).
The AU, recently, expressed its aspiration to strengthen its own institutions with the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
Reacting to latest development, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Hamisi Malebo, said yesterday that there is no need to rush for vaccine before verifying their safety and efficacy.
He said President Magufuli was right in his decision regarding Covid-19 vaccine.
Prof Malebo, who is also the founder of Covidol-herbal medication said as President Magufuli is responsible for protecting the lives and health of his people, thus, he could not just rush for the vaccines.
“It was not wise for the President to allow such vaccines into the country whose safety and efficacy have not been verified… vaccines are dangerous and if not properly managed, may cause a huge consequence to the nation,” he said.
“We thank our Almighty God for giving us a patriotic President, who had foreseen repercussions of the Covid–19 vaccines developed by various nations,” Prof Malebo said.
Prof Malebo added: “ the researches, which have led to the development of Covid -19 vaccines in various nations have been conducted within a short time… it is possible researchers didn’t get sufficient time to go through all the required procedures.”
He said as experts in the area, they do not advice people to be vaccinated, but further studies should be conducted for at least five years so that they could come up with satisfactory scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines on human being.
“What is happening in South Africa was also foreseen by some scientists,” he said.
The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) Director of Research Coordination and Promotion, Dr Paul Kazyoba said President Magufuli has made an excellent decision by not rushing for the vaccines.
He said Tanzanians should continue listening to health experts and applying available means in fighting the scourge.
“We should continue to find out alternative ways of dealing with this pandemic while we ensure that our country remains safe and continue to make close follow up on the developed vaccines.”
He called upon scientists in the country and Africa in general to take precautions and verify each and everything that is brought to their countries.
He said if not well managed, some vaccines could wipe out a generation.
“Our scientists should not be indoctrinated by just receiving things through trust, even if a certain nation has a good record of making vaccines, pre-cautions and verification exercises must be carried out,” he stressed.
He said as researchers, they will continue to advise the government through the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children.
Recently, the AU recommended for the strengthening of the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in order to respond effectively to emergencies and complex health challenges, as a specialised technical institution of the African Union.
The AU position was communicated at the 34th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), held through a Video Conference over the weekend.
In the meeting, Tanzania through the Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Minister, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi backed the position of enabling African expertise in producing own medicines and vaccines in dealing with outbreaks like the Covid-19.
Prof Kabudi, who was representing President John Magufuli at the meeting, called upon fellow countries to build the capacity of its health sector experts, to produce drugs and vaccines in times of disease outbreaks.
He said by maintaining dependence on medicines and vaccines from other continents, Africa was depriving and undermining its ability and its position in the fight against outbreaks.
The minister further stressed on the need for African countries to use its experts in producing their own drugs and locally made traditional medicines, while devising ways like vaccines in the prevention of such diseases.
Already, South Africa has suspended the British made AstraZeneca vaccine following a study conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, which discovered it less effective against a variant of the virus found in South Africa.
South Africa, being Africa’s second largest economy is considered to have been hit hard by the virus which has seen more than 46,000 people die.
