N1.25bn TETFund Sponsored COVID Vaccine Ready for Trial in November
Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The vaccine development efforts of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has started yielding visible results as its COVID-19 vaccine project would be ready for clinical trial in November this year.
The TETFund distributed a total of N1.250 billion to four clusters of researchers that included a Vaccine Production Cluster that got a total grant of N450 million.
The Vice Chancellor of Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Professor Lawal Suleiman Bilbis, who led a team of researchers yesterday to brief the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mr. Sonny Echono, explained that they were able to make the breakthrough through the maximum support of the fund.
Bilbis recalled how the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged and unleashed untold hardship on humanity globally, noting that Nigeria was only saved by divine intervention since the nation was not prepared for such eventuality.
He said: “TETFund believed in us and supported us to get to where we are now. That is why we have come to give a firsthand report on the progress made so far.”
A presentation by Dr. Bashir Muhammad Bello of Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, revealed that it has become a matter of urgency for Africa to join the rest of the world in the production of its own vaccine rather than importing 99 per cent of its vaccines.
Bello explained that this has given rise to the team coming together to form a consortium and put up a strong proposal with which they approached TETFund for sponsorship under its research and development intervention.
He said: “We graciously got the support of TETFund not only in COVID-19 but also in Lassa Fever and other infectious diseases, because whether we like it or not, diseases will continue to emerge and reemerge. They don’t have international boundaries and that is why they are called pandemic.
“That was when we realized that we really need to sit up. Those producing these vaccines abroad are mostly Nigerians after all, so why can’t we do it here. That is why we decided to form a consortium and TETFund was magnanimous to release N225 million for the first tranche.”
He noted that the team was meticulous in their research by ensuring that all the factors responsible for the reemergence of different COVID-19 variants were considered to make sure they do not manifest in future.
Responding, Echono lauded the team for the great feat it has achieved within a time limit by making the country proud with the progress recorded in the vaccine production.
