Yemisi Izuora
The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday, insisted that there is no seeming harm with the AstraZeneca, COVID-19 vaccines and therefore urged the federal government to continue with its vaccination exercise.
The agency said the programme should not be stopped despite fears over the side effects of the jabs.
Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC stated this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, March 17.
Adeyeye stated that with the number of lives lost to the pandemic, halting the vaccination campaign in the country is not advisable.
“People are dying of COVID-19″ the NAFDAC boss said. “The vaccines should not be stopped unless it is a statistically massive occurrence[side effects].”
Although many countries have halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccines over fears about possible side effects like blood clotting, Professor Adeyeye believes that the benefits of taking the jabs far outweigh such fear.
The NAFDAC DG believes there is no need to stop the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“It is knowing that these are serious but the benefits outweigh the risk,” she insisted; admitting, however, that there is a need for more engagement to know people’s reactions to drugs.
She said the AstraZeneca vaccine is not the first to be used under an emergency authorisation; explaining that other COVID-19 vaccines have been reported to have had adverse effects on people who took the shots.
According to her, over five hundred persons have been vaccinated against the virus at the National Hospital in Abuja. But she said only about six persons had side effects like fever, chills, and pain.
“But we have not reported adverse events of serious nature or special interest,” she added; conceding, however, that it “may” happen later.
