Nigerian Government Confirms COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Nigerian Government have confirmed mild side effects in COVID-19 vaccine<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency says some of those that have received the COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria reported mild side effects&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Nigerian  <strong>Government<&sol;strong>’s agency made this known in a statement on its Twitter handle on Thursday&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Vaccinations in Nigeria started earlier this month and we have not observed any similar adverse reactions&period; All side effects reported by those who have been administered the vaccine have been mild&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;— NPHCDA &lpar;&commat;NphcdaNG&rpar; March 11&comma; 2021<br &sol;>&NewLine;It explained that Nigeria did not receive any batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine with a suspected side effect&comma; ABV5300&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In the statement titled&comma; &OpenCurlyQuote;Press Statement on concerns about the safety of the Oxford&sol;AstraZeneca Vaccine’&comma; NPHCDA urged Nigerians to be confident in the nation’s vaccine programme&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Nigeria took delivery of about four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines as part of an overall 16 million doses planned to be delivered to the country in batches over the next few months&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Among the prominent Nigerians that have been vaccinated are the President&comma; Major General Muhammadu Buhari &lpar;retd&period;&rpar;&comma; and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Several countries suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine on Thursday over blood clot fears&comma; prompting Europe’s medical agency to quickly reassure the public there were no known health risks linked to the jab&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Among the countries that have suspended the use of the vaccine are Italy&comma; Denmark&comma; Norway and Iceland&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The melee over the vaccine came as the world marked one year since the pandemic was officially declared&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;NPHCDA statement reads&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are aware of precautionary concerns that have been raised regarding one specific batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine&comma; namely ABV5300&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We understand that investigations are being conducted to determine if the batch is in any way linked to an observed side effect&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;While we await the outcome of the investigations&comma; it is important to clearly state that Nigeria did not receive any doses from the batch of vaccines which is at issue&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Vaccinations in Nigeria started earlier this month and we have not observed any similar adverse reactions&period; All side effects reported by those who have been administered the vaccine have been mild&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are satisfied that the clinical evidence indicates the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be safe and effective&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Our assessment is in line with countries such as Spain and the UK who have indicated that they will continue to administer the vaccine&comma; because it remains an important tool to protect against COVID-19&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The safety of vaccines delivered to Nigeria is paramount to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19&period; For this reason&comma; it has enhanced multi-sectoral collaboration among stakeholders and technical entities such as the FMOH&comma; NPHCDA&comma; NAFDAC&comma; WHO&comma; and UNICEF whose cooperation ensures the highest global standards are met for vaccines delivered to Nigeria before they are distributed to Nigerians&period; Clear&comma; rigorous protocols are being followed to safeguard the health of Nigerians&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are continuing to monitor the developments regarding ABV5300 batch and will share further information as it becomes available&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;In the meantime&comma; we encourage Nigerians who are among those being prioritized in the current phase to continue their confidence and enthusiasm for our vitally important national vaccine program&period; Together&comma; we can save lives&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;