Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha who stated this at the daily update on COVID-19 in Abuja, observed that since the recording of the index case, Nigerians have clamoured for research into home grown solution to COVID-19.

He noted that some countries are trying to abridge the processes of trials to shorten the time as we are not expecting any vaccine to be on the shelve until towards the end of 2021 for industries that have perfected the processes of manufacturing the vaccine.

Boss Mustapha, therefore, appealed to researchers to be patient and subject their drugs to regulatory processes so that if their drugs are found fit for human consumption, they will receive appropriate certification

He said, ”I listened to one of the drug manufacturers in US saying that they will provide the world with billions of vaccine by the end of 2021. We are in 2020 and this is the time Covid-19 is ravaging the entire world but we are not in a hurry to release those drugs, so my appeal to our homegrown researchers is to be patient and go through regulatory process so that if their drugs are found fit for human consumption, they will receive appropriate certification. The processes of examining, trials and Validation of drugs are staggered in different stages and takes a very long time and the government will not like to end up with a situation the country had in the past with a polio vaccine by one of the manufacturers which became a subject of litigation. The PTF, as part of its mandate, has continued to promote research and wishes to repeat its appeal to all our researchers to go through the validation process so as to enable humanity benefit from their hard work and they in turn benefit from the intellectual property rights associated with such research”.

The SGF called on corporate citizens and public-spirited individuals to invest in the rural health infrastructure to enable the country to contain the community spread of Coronavirus.

Boss Mustapha observed that given the impact of the COVID-19 on global economy and national income, it has become obvious that government alone cannot bear this burden as the situation requires a great deal of investment in strengthening the primary health care system, the manpower and the infrastructure.

He said, “As we continue to learn the lessons from COVID-19 by fortifying our health systems and infrastructure against present and future pandemics, I wish to remind Nigerians that there is still a lot to be done and investment to make. The PTF mentioned at the briefing on Monday 11th May 2020 that it had commenced focus on community ownership, guidance, acceptance and implementation in the control of COVID-19.

The SGF warned Nigerians against the use of recycled surgical face masks picked from dumpsites adding that the use of recycled face mask was not only hazardous to the user but also others.

Mustapha who also spoke against the sharing of masks noted that such actions could lead to the risks of contracting the Coronavirus and urged Nigerians to always dispose properly of their surgical masks or at best burn them.