The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), says a total of 8,439 mild Adverse events following immunization (AEFI) have been reported since vaccination began in Nigeria in March.
The Executive Director and CEO, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this in a Joint Press Conference between the NPHCDA and World Health Organization (WHO), on the status of the COVID-19 Vaccination in the country.
“Out of over a million persons given the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria, 8,439 persons have suffered mild Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI), and 52 persons moderate to severe adverse events on receiving the jab. While the mild reactions include body pains and swelling, the moderate to severe adverse events presented were fever, vomiting, diarrhoea headaches, dizziness and allergic reactions,” Dr. Shuaib said.
He disclosed that there has been no death from the administration of the vaccine and no case of blood clots related to the administration of the vaccines have been diagnosed in the country.
The ED further said five states have the highest records of the AEFI namely: Kaduna (970) Cross River (859), Yobe (541), Kebbi (511), and Lagos (448).
He said these cases were being investigated to ensure they were caused by vaccination.
Dr. Shuaib restated that there was currently a global shortfall of COVID-19 vaccines which have forced the federal government to reassess vaccine supply forecasts and take the decision to ensure that everyone who had taken the vaccine in the current phase gets the second dose before the next consignment was delivered to Nigeria.
“Furthermore, as a result of this overall program review to meet the challenges of global vaccine demand and supply mismatch, and the late commencement of the vaccination in some States, we are expanding the eligibility period between the first and second doses of the vaccine from 12 weeks to between eight to 12 weeks.
“This is still in line with the scientific recommendation provided by the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE on immunization) that the two doses of the vaccine be given at an interval of 8 to 12 weeks“he explained.
The NPHCDC boss also informed that administration of the first 3.94 million doses of the vaccines recieved from COVAX would end before its expiration in July.
On vaccine acceptability, he added that the NPHCDA plans to engage more at the community levels across the country, by organizing Zonal town hall meetings across all geopolitical zones to facilitate the discussions around COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria from 20th April, 2021.
Also speaking, the country representative, World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, reiterated that the benefits of taking the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines far outweighs the risks. He noted that the over 200 million cases of AstraZeneca vaccines have been administered globally.
In vaccine availability and equity, Kazadi said the WHO was currently pressuring wealthy countries hoarding the vaccines to release them so that they can redistribute doses and make them available through the COVAX mechanism or through bilateral agreements to countries that need them the most.
He added that WHO was all engaging the manufacturers for technology transfer, so as to have more sites that could manufacture the vaccines and scale up production.
The country representative emphasised the need for Nigeria to follow the vaccination plan to ensure that priority groups were prioritized.
Nigeria kicked off vaccination since March 5, 2021 with the vaccination with healthcare workers who are mostly at risk to the infections being the first responders.
