Selective: Melaye's Vaccine Claims
The Claim
AstraZeneca vaccine purchased by Nigeria is the least effective.
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Senator Dino Melaye is a man well known for the fearless expression of his opinion on national matters with several brushes with the Federal government's agencies.
The latest of this is his spat on the COVID-19 vaccine opted for by the Federal Government. Indeed he has aired his thoughts on the vaccine at various times, such as here and here.
According to the former senator, the AstraZeneca purchased by Nigeria isn’t the most effective and, as such, shouldn't have been settled for by the FG.
In 5 minutes, 9 seconds interview with Roots TV, which was re-posted by blogger Tunde Ednut with more than 200k views here, Dino Melaye says Nigerians deserve better than those settled is the least potent after a 14-day administration.
Excerpts of the interview read thus:
“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% ineffectiveness, 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 person, 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 an effectiveness of 94 percent, another with 95 percent is there, and you decided to go for the one with 62 percent potency. I think it is not right,” he says
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s analysis of the Senator’s claims is a mixture of truths and misleading claims. We found the claim of the AstraZeneca vaccine being from India to be true. Details obtained from the official website of the World Health Organization (WHO) here confirms this.
Although the Senator appropriately clarified his stand, saying he is not against the use of the vaccine as he believes in the existence of the virus, other claims he mentioned, which Misbar confirms not to be accurate, are as follows:
The vaccine is not safe for use and has just 62% effectiveness:
The claim that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective when compared to the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson Johnson vaccine is valid, but this, however, does not connote that it is not practical.
According to the Oxford Vaccine Group, an adequate level of 61% was recorded in those who received two standard doses. Records have it participants who received a low dose, followed by a usual dose, recorded a 90.0% overall efficacy level.
To also buttress this, the WHO on its listing page here explains that the emergency use listing (EUL) procedure assesses the suitability of novel health products during public health emergencies. As such, no drug gets approval without it meeting its globally acceptable standards.
“The objective is to make medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics available as rapidly as possible to address the emergency while adhering to stringent criteria of safety, efficacy, and quality. The assessment weighs the threat posed by emergency as well as the benefit that would accrue from the use of the product against any potential risks,” it says.
AstraZeneca has the worst side effects:
It is not accurate about the AstraZeneca vaccine's side effects during the European Medicines Agency's trialsAstraZeneca vaccine's side effects. Side effects were pain and tenderness at the injection site, headache, tiredness, muscle pain, general feeling of being unwell, chills, fever, joint pain, and use. These got better a few days after vaccination. It affected about 1 in 10 people vaccinated.
