COVID-19: More Doubts As Health Workers Complain Of Fever, Pains After Jab Of AstraZeneca Vaccine

Eric Togbe, the protocol officer at the National Hospital, Abuja, was in deep slumber when THE WHISTLER visited the public relations unit of the facility in search of health workers who had taken the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Togbe, who is said to be usually active and eager to attend to visitors, had been injected with the vaccine hours before the reporter arrived.

An official in the unit was heard telling a colleague in pidgin English that Togbe was weak because he took the vaccine. ‘You know say Eric don take this vaccine…. if not him for don dey move around since,”he had said.

This website was able to establish, by talking to those involved, that many of the health workers’ in the hospital were experiencing reactions after taking the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Although Togbe had expressed joy after his inoculation, his colleagues confirmed that the long moments of sleep was as a result of the vaccine.

Common Reactions Are Muscle Pains, Mild Fever

The common reactions are muscle pain, resulting from the nature of needle-in-use; dizziness, fatigue, mild rise in temperature and fever.

Reactions from the vaccine vary from person to person and as such “mild fever, tiredness and mild muscle pain” are peculiar cases that disappear after “two or three” hours post-vaccination, according to Rita Obazee, the Director of Nursing Services at the hospital.

  Obazee revealed that over 500 health workers had been vaccinated as of March 10 while admitting that some recipients could experience some mild reactions..

  She advised those with history of allergies to indicate before taking the vaccine and that victims with post-inoculation reactions should return to the hospital.

An official of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), at the Trauma Centre of the hospital, also revealed that she personally vaccinated 80 persons on Friday, 50 on Monday, 58 on Tuesday and 70 on Wednesday.

The official, who spoke off-record, said the only reactions recorded from recipients are “dizziness and muscle pain” since the roll-out, adding that such reactions are common to all vaccines.

The NPHCDA official showed THE WHISTLER the official record showing the type of complaints from some recipients of the vaccine. She said the record came from one of the three vaccination units of the hospital.

No Adverse Effects

The Assistant Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Lanre Falodun, told our correspondent that the hospital had received no adverse effect of significance, since March 5.

Falodun said he had taken the vaccine on Friday and had not felt any negative side effect.

Some hospital staff, who spoke to THE WHISTLER off-the-record, also corroborated Falodun’s statement, saying the “little or no reactions” from the vaccine had increased trust among health workers who were now eager to get vaccinated.

This reporter saw health workers walking in and out of the National Trauma Centre where two of the vaccination centres of the National Hospital are located.

Nigeria took delivery of 3.942 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on March 2 and launched it for use three days later. Health and other strategic workers were to receive the first batch of the vaccine