• According to an award winning Nigerian journalist, at least one person has died while two top government officials have become critically ill after taking jabs of the AstraZeneca Vaccine.
• The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 have, however, insisted that the AstraZeneca vaccine while was delivered on March 2, 2021, is safe for Nigerians.
• Some European countries have halted the roll-out of the vaccine over growing concerns of its efficacy, or lack of it.

An award winning Nigerian journalist, Kemi Olunloyo has alleged that one person has died while two top government functionaries have become critically ill after taking jabs of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Whereas the journalist did not mention the names of the individuals involved, she referenced 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.

The shocking news is coming two weeks after Nigeria took delivery of the first batch of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is about 3,924,000 doses.

As gathered by EKO HOT BLOG, so far, 8,000 jabs have been administered across 34 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines, except Kogi.

Recently, there has been widespread concerns about the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccines, but the Presidential Tasks Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has maintained that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe for Nigerians despite the increasing global panic over possible “blood clot” related side effects.

AstraZeneca vaccine

According to the National Incident Manager of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr. Mukhtar Muhammad, who spoke on Monday in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the taskforce, clinical trials had shown that the side effects are “generally mild’’.

Muktar said that the World Health Organization 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 have received the vaccine, but who have felt symptoms of side effects of any form for more than 24 hours, to utilize the appropriate channels at the state level and report such incidents.

“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.

EKO HOT BLOG had earlier reported that some countries in Europe have suspended the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over growing concerns that the vaccine 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.

READ ALSO: Senate President Lawan Receives First AstraZeneca Vaccine At National Assembly

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