Nigerian and acclaimed US trained, award winning journalist, Kemi Olunloyo has said one person has died and two top government officials are critically ill after taking the Oxford/AstraZeneca Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.
While Olunloyo did not mention the names of the persons involved, she did mentioned Segun Odubela, a former Ogun State commissioner for Education, who died of COVID-19 complications at a private hospital in Lagos last night.
“There’s a death & two high ranking govt officials very ill from the ASTRA-ZENECA #COVID19 vaccine. The RX giant’s vaccine has been pulled in several European countries as a “precautionary” measure for blood clots. The Prez task force should be transparent now.
“The Prez task force should explain to the public how NAFDAC must get Clinical scientists to work. I am investigating this as a clinical pharmacist and medical reporter. All those who got their first doses must report adverse symptoms right away to their physicians,” she tweeted on Tuesday.
https://twitter.com/KemiOlunloyo/status/1371793133525213188?s=19
Recall that Nigeria, March 2, 2021 took delivery of the first batch of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 3,924,000 doses.
So far, 8,000 jabs have been administered across 34 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, except Kogi.
However, there is an ongoing concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccines, but the Presidential Tasks Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has insisted that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe for Nigerians despite the growing global concerns over possible side effects.
The National Incident Manager of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr. Mukhtar Muhammad on Monday in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the taskforce said clinical trials had shown that the side effects are “generally mild’’.
He said that the WHO had in the last three days, through a series of briefings, vouched for the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, and that it had been proven that it had about 70 per cent efficacy level.
He, however, advised those who might have received the vaccine, but who have felt symptoms of its reactions for more than 24 hours, to report through the appropriate channels at the state level.
“The arrival of the vaccines is something that is very good and exciting in the sense that a combination of the vaccine and the non-pharmaceutical interventions can help us see the light at the end of the tunnel within a very short period of time.
“However, we have suffered a major setback in the last few hours, regarding the content safety and efficacy of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We have seen in the news how some countries have deferred the usage of this vaccine or have suspended its use. That list of the European countries is growing.
“However, it is very reassuring to see that the regulatory agencies in those countries have continued to emphasise that the vaccine is safe and that the incidence of blood clots reported in the patients is not higher than the risk of blood clotting in people who are not vaccinated. That is really something reassuring.
Meanwhile, some countries in Europe have suspended the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over concerns that the jab may cause blood clots.
Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands became the latest countries to pause the rollout of the vaccine on Monday.
Norway, Denmark and Bulgaria suspended their programmes last week.