The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has refuted claims that children in Nigeria were being administered a vaccine that contained 40 per cent mercury, which was prescribed by foreign organisations.

Its Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a press statement debunked some reports stating that multi-dose vaccines containing 40 per cent mercury, banned about 30 years ago in Europe and over 20 years ago in America, are still being applied to Nigerian children’s bodies.

NAFDAC, however, said mercury is a metal and it is not used as an element or as a component of vaccines. And for context, Thimerosal, a mercuric compound which is a preservative used in multi-dose vaccines in concentrations of 0.003 per cent to 0.01 per cent, contains a different form of mercury called ethyl mercury.