UNIJOS Commences Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
Vice-Chancellor, University of Jos (UNIJOS), Prof. Tanko Ishaya, has received a DNA-based indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate, codenamed SJN3T CorVac (Sokoto, Jos, NARICT, NIMR, NVRI and TETFund) produced by a consortium of Nigerian universities and inter-university centres, which will undergo Pre-Clinical Trials (PCT) in UNIJOS.
The VC, in a statement, yesterday, by the Deputy Registrar, of Information and Publications, Abdullahi Abdullahi, reiterated that Nigerian universities and research-based institutions could address most of the country’s challenges if given the necessary support.
Tanko insists that only indigenous solutions could be applied to properly tackle Nigeria’s socio-political, economic and health problems, which the country’s indigenous researchers were suitably equipped to handle provided they are given the required funding.
He believes that recruiting foreign experts and importing foreign solutions to resolve the country’s challenges may be counter-productive in the long run.
Ishaya explained that the university’s mandate in the research consortium’s collaborative and inter-disciplinary project towards developing an indigenous COVID-19 vaccine was to utilise modern technologies to conduct PCT of the vaccine candidate and develop a Strategic Communications Tool for measuring the acceptability and uptake of the vaccine candidate among Nigerians.
