“The likelihood is that you will develop immunity but then, that immunity does not protect you from exposure, it does not protect you from infection. What the vaccination does is to prevent your infection from becoming a disease.

“Your vaccine will not protect you from exposure; if you don’t wear your mask and you go out because you are vaccinated, it does not mean that you won’t be exposed to somebody who is sneezing and carrying it around,” he said.

The virologist noted that the vaccine is an addition to other measures in mitigating the viral infection.

He added that the vaccine does not protect people from getting infected, but it prevents the infection from becoming a disease.

“The guarantee is that you are protected but supposing you are not and even when you are protected if you get exposed to the virus, it will grow in your body, that is the infection but it will not progress to disease because you have the vaccine.

“Vaccine is not the solution; it’s just an addition to the things we said we should be doing- wear your mask, wash your hands, and maintain your distance.

“Even when you get the vaccine, you should still continue to do those ones because of the things I have mentioned – your vaccine will prevent the infection from becoming a disease, that is all it does.

“So, let’s not think it is a magic wand and that once you get it, that is the end.

“You know we react differently and the fact that I get vaccine does not mean I will develop immunity.

“Vaccine will only prevent the infection from becoming a disease and if you get the disease, you may die, if you don’t get it, you are okay but it does not stop you from getting infected,” he said.

Tomori, who is also the Chairman, Expert Review Committee on COVID-19, said by now, the Federal Government should have informed Nigerians on the type of vaccines the country is getting and the group of people getting the vaccine.

“I hear the FG has put N400bn to buy the vaccine but they don’t even know which vaccine they’re buying. So, how many doses do you know they are going to get?

“Pfizer has its own different price, Moderna has its own different price. On what are they basing their N400bn when you don’t know the vaccine they are going to get and how many doses they are going to get?

“The price of the vaccine will determine the doses you get with your N400bn.

“You know there are different types of vaccines. For me, the Pfizer vaccine is out of the way. We can look at other ones like Oxford and some of the ones from China or Russia.

“But today, none of us knows what we are getting,” he said.

Continuing, the virologist said the agreement with the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator -COVAX is non-binding.

Tomori noted that Nigerians should be informed if the country will take delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021.

“By now, Nigerians should have been putting in those questions and answers you’re talking about on radio, TV, that this is the type of vaccine we’re getting and this is the group that is getting it.

“I know the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and others are planning but it’s not the planning; the people you’re going to give (the vaccine) is not NHPCDA. Therefore, the people should know now if we’re actually going to get those vaccines.

“They told us we will get those vaccines in January, people should have known by now that we’re likely to get it from this spot and the kind of vaccine to get; this is the kind of reaction you get from that vaccine.

“This information should be made available. The information we’re getting on social media is the contrary information about the vaccine and that is what the people hear and that is what they believe.

“You’re talking of vaccinating 50 percent of the people, supposing they refuse to come for the vaccination, how are you going to reach the 50 percent; that is why it’s important for us now to get all that,” he said.

source: Punch