The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has allayed fear from Nigerians over the controversies surrounding the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine which is meant to protect citizens from the covid-19 disease as it stressed that the benefits of taking the vaccine far outweigh the risks.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also declared that AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine should continue to be administered as the benefits outweigh its risks.
More than 20 countries around the world have suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to random cases of blood-clotting, which has not yet been scientifically linked with vaccination. They temporarily suspended the vaccination in other to carry out further investigations and analyses.
Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye during an interview on Channels Television in Abuja yesterday, the stated that the agency is not nonchalantly approving the emergency use of the vaccine, but predicates its decision on its detailed findings and recommendations from more mature regulatory agencies and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
She noted that out of over 17 million people vaccinated worldwide, sadly, only 37 persons have been reported to have adverse events from taking the vaccine. This, according to her, should not be a basis to suspend the ongoing vaccination of Nigerians.
