Eric Karikari Boateng, the Head of Laboratory at the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has assured Ghanaians of the safety and quality of vaccines being purchased by the Government for the populace.
He noted that the emergency use authorization was given to these vaccines after they were identified as safe for use.
“The vaccine has be of the right quality, safe and efficacious. We looked at the results from the clinical testing and other processes. All these were looked at and the vaccine was seen as safe and then, the emergency authorization was given”.
Speaking in an interview on the Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy FM, Eric Karikari Boateng said, “Nothing was compromised upon and we had to work day and night to verify their potency and quality. What needs to be done between 4 – 5 months, we used 14 days to do so”.
When asked if samples of the virus were sent down for the testing, he answered in the negative. He disclosed the FDA only reviewed data presented by manufacturers “and we saw that they met the right standards and protocols”.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says adequate safety and quality assurance has been done in authorising the two COVID-19 vaccines to be administered in the country.
Giving the assurance in an interview with an Accra based newspaper, yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FDA, Mrs Delese Mimi Darko, said the two vaccines were Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaccine, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Sputnik-V, manufactured by Generium in Russia.
She said the FDA, listed as a World Health Organisation (WHO) Maturity Level Three Agency and a regional centre of regulatory excellence, had a stable, well-functioning and integrated regulatory system to ensure availability of quality safe and efficacious medical products, including vaccines.
By: Joel Sanco