The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday maintained that vaccinations against COVID-19 should not be stopped in Nigeria despite fears over the side effects of the jabs.
Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the agency who said this, believes 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 during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. “The vaccines should not be stopped unless it is a statistically massive occurrence[side effects].”
Although many countries have halted the use of the AstraneZeneca 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 boss believes there is no need to stop the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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“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 emergency authorization, 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.
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