From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Thursday, neutralized the fear that AstraZeneca vaccine is harmful to the body and could also cause more dangers to the body.
The Agency, thus, encouraged Nigerians to submit themselves to the vaccination as a strong measures against the dreaded coronavirus diseases, insisting that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk.
It also admitted that there are side effects of the vaccine as the case with every other drugs, but the adverse cases are “insignificant” when compared with the number of the people that took the vaccine.
NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who addressed journalists in Abuja, on Thursday, confirmed that its digital tool, Med Safety Application has been helpful in the collection of the adverse effect cases.
She, regrettably, announced that a life was lost in the cause of the immunization due to wrong drug combination which the late vaccinee did not disclose to the health workers that administered the vaccine.
She said: “The case was that the vaccinee had dental problem and was on diclofenac medication. Diclofenac is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, that could cause blood clotting when combined with COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, the person passed away after taking the vaccine.”
She, however, suggested that there should be a brief dialogue between a potential vaccinee and the health worker before the vaccine is administered.
“The essence of the brief dialogue is to find out the health status of the person taking the vaccine, to know if he or she is on a particular drug that could work contrary to the content of the vaccine. If it shows red flag, then the person is advised to temporarily drop the plan.
“We have discovered that some people who may have COVID-19 or recently treated the disease need to wait for one month or more before they take can the vaccine.
“About four million people have received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines across the country. But through our Med Safety App, we have recorded over 4,500 adverse effects following immunization.
“We are still compiling the cases because some people could not use the digital tool. Some reported theirs on yellow paper. But in total, the reported adverse case reaction are not up to 10, 000, out of the four million immunization given.
“Undoubtedly, there are serious adverse events following immunization. But we have less than five percent of such cases. It’s always advised that vaccinees stay around the area of the vaccination for 45 minutes so he or she can be monitored. Some reactions happen suddenly but allergic reactions can be delayed.
“Nevertheless, our staff and that of other relevant agencies are following up on vaccinees to monitor their performance for seven day (one week). Some of the vaccinees that had reactions stayed in the hospital and their cases were resolved in two days.”