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By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

• …Says AstraZeneca vaccination has not been linked with blood clot

• … Nobody has reported any side effects of concern across the country

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Friday disclosed that available information has shown that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is generally safe and efficacious against the COVID-19 disease.

It however stressed that it won’t hesitate to take decisive actions should new data surface to prove that the vaccine is unsafe for Nigerians.

Stressing that the benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risks or side effects, it therefore urged people who have taken the vaccine to ensure they report any symptoms of vaccination if it exceeds 24 to 48 hours.

The expected symptoms of taking the vaccine are – mild fever, brief sleep disorders, cold, cough, sneezing, pain in arm, etc.

The National Incident Manager of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr Mukhtar Muhammed, who made these known during an interview on Channels Television in Abuja, further stated that the countries that have suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to incidences of blood clot, did it for precautionary measures, and not because the vaccination itself has been scientifically linked with the incident.

He said: “I think in the last 24 hours, we have received this disturbing news which for us is not really very much disturbing considering what is happening in some of the European countries where they have suspended or have stopped using Oxford-AstraZeneca for some reasons that are not yet confirmed.

Read Also: List of countries that have ‘temporarily’ suspended Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine

“In all of these issues, it is to consider benefits versus the risk, and what they have noticed is that they have administered almost 5 million doses of this vaccine collectively in the European countries. Only 30 cases so far have reported this incidence of thromboembolic incidence.

“That is really very small compared to even the incidence of the disease itself. Even in unvaccinated populations, the incidence is higher in the general population that it is even in the vaccinated population. Therefore, that is not an established basis, and they are still investigating. They cannot conclusively say that the thromboembolic attacks are due to the effects of the vaccination.

“But for the scientific world, I think it is something not to worry about. For us in Nigeria, we will continue to administer this vaccine. Our documentation so far has shown that it is safe to use and we will continue to roll out this Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination. However, we will continue to monitor people for symptoms. Any person who has received this vaccine and has some symptoms should please use the med app and report the symptoms.

“Our staff and also the state governments are trained to monitor and report on the symptoms and any untoward side effects that have been reported. If we have any established fact that something is wrong or that something is not good for the general public, the government will not hesitate to take the necessary actions.”

He added: “Those countries that suspended the use of AstraZeneca took those actions as a form of precautionary measure, and it is not an established fact that the vaccine is associated with that thromboembolic attack or what you call the clot formation. They are still doing some investigation, but they have provided some clear statement that the incidences of blood clot disease or thromboembolic disease in the general population in Europe is higher than what was found in the population that has been vaccinated.

“This is to tell you that the vaccine itself is not a risk for having a thromboembolic attack. However, it is a source of concern if some people have reported those symptoms and it needs to be evaluated.”

Concerning side effects of the vaccination, Muhammed stated: “We are certainly looking at the strategic leadership now that has taken the vaccine; we have not administered so many doses. Mostly now, it is the strategic leadership. The side effects are generally the same. The first one is not really a side effect but it is an effect of the injection itself – which is you have some pain in the site. This can persist for a few hours and maybe a few days. This is the experience not only with this vaccine but with other intramuscular vaccination that is done.

“The second one is also the side effects of injecting a foreign body, particularly if it contains some protein into the body – it can elicit fever. You can have some mild grade fever and the general feeling of unwell headaches, and it can affect your sleep pattern. But they are all mild feelings, specifically when we were sharing experience among the ministers.

“But the important thing is that these symptoms should not persist and they should not occur more than 24 to 48 hours. Everyone who has been immunised has been told to report any symptoms that persist for more than 24 hours.

“Generally, when you take this vaccine, we will watch you for 15 to 20 minutes at least to make sure that you don’t have any adverse effect. The incidence of shock as a result of injecting the vaccine has not been reported at all. These symptoms are symptoms that will go away by themselves or you just take some small paracetamol that will make them go away,” he said.

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