Nigeria Records 10,027 Cases Of Side Effects From COVID-19 Vaccination

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, has said that Nigeria recorded a total of 10,027 cases of mild adverse effects after Covid-19 vaccination.

Addressing a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, the Executive Director, NPHCDA, Faisal Shuaib said that Cross River, Kaduna, Lagos, Yobe and Kebbi states had the highest records with 1,040, 1,071, 796, 555 and 525 cases respectively.

He said, “A total of 10,027 cases of mild AEFI have been reported as of May 30th, while 86 cases of moderate to severe incidents have been reported. All these individuals have since fully recovered.

“The AEFIs symptoms ranged from pain and swelling at site of vaccination to more serious symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pain, fever, dizziness and allergic reactions.”

Speaking further, Shuaib noted that as of Monday, 1,956,598 eligible Nigerians have been vaccinated with their first dose of the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine.

Of this number, he stated that 66 percent are frontline workers, 22 percent are healthcare workers, while 12 percent belong to the elderly group.

Also, he explained that 73,465 Nigerians have received their 2nd dose across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

On the global vaccine supply and anticipated next consignment, he said Covax facility has communicated that the upcoming allocation is likely to be between July-September 2021.

He added that the exact dates are still being finalized.

Shuaib said, “Nevertheless, bilateral conversations are ongoing to see how we can access the surplus vaccines being stockpiled by developed countries.”

He stressed that all Nigerians who have received the first dose should check their vaccination cards for the date of their second dose, and proceed to the same health facility where they got their first jab, to ensure full protection against COVID-19.

He said that significant concern remains about the threat posed by the Coronavirus B.1.617.2 variant, also known as the Indian variant, which is observed to be a highly contagious triple-mutant strain of the coronavirus.

“In England, cases of the variant have doubled in one week alone. It is very important that we take all the necessary precautions set out by the Government to prevent an uncontrolled outbreak here in Nigeria.

“I would like to mention that GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance through UNICEF and in partnership with NCDC and NPHCDA have donated $8m worth of PPE to be used by primary health care workers across all 36 States and the FCT.

“These PPEs are already on their way to the sub-national level, courtesy of Unicef. We thank our partners and value their continued partnership in supporting our frontline health workers,” he added.

The Country Representative of the World Health Organisation body, Walter Molumbo, in his remark said that despite achievements in the distribution of vaccines, Africa recorded a 20 percent increase in number of new cases.

He explained that countries in Africa lose their share of vaccines as some vaccines got expired before they could used by the countries.

“Africa is still lagging behind in access to vaccines, but Nigeria has distributed the most.

“Our target is to ensure that at least 100 million persons get vaccinated, and by September we should have covered 10 percent of our target.

“In Africa, we witnessed a paradox, while the continent have received only a few share of vaccines, we discovered that some countries could not use them because they had expired,” he added.