Lagos govt opens up on COVID-19 vaccines side effect

• NCDC takes responsibility for portal’s malfunctioning
• 26,000 persons vaccinated in Ekiti State, says govt

The Lagos State Government has admitted that following the administration of the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, few persons vaccinated experienced what is termed Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) or Adverse Event of Special Interest (AESI).

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, stated this, yesterday, in a statement as part of the steward reports on the conclusion of the phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination and also announcing a date for the commencement of the second phase of vaccination exercise.

Abayomi listed the adverse events or side effects of the vaccine as pain at the injection site, fever or body pains lasting 24 to 48 hours and anaphylactic shock.
He said that the second phase of the vaccination exercise would commence from May 28, 2021, adding that the state, as of Thursday, April 15, 2021, had inoculated 257,756 persons.

IN a related vein, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has responded to claims by legendary singer, Innocent Ujah Idibia, that he and some Nigerians were stranded at an airport because the COVID-19 portal was down.

In a series of tweets via its verified twitter handle, the NCDC took responsibility for the portal’s malfunction, saying: “On the April 20, a system failure by one of the partner organisations supporting the management of the COVID-19 travel portal led to an unforeseen downtime. The technical failure was resolved following about 12 hours of downtime. We accept full responsibility for this event,” the agency tweeted.

The agency also reiterated that it had learnt from the incident and would strive to serve Nigerians better.
IN another development, the Ekiti State Government has revealed that 26,000 persons have been inoculated with AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the state so far.

The state government also added that it had not suspended testing of the populace for COVID-19 infections, saying a total of 1,416 persons were tested across the state in March.

Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. Jimlas Ogunsakin, who spoke with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, said those that had been vaccinated would get the second jabs by May 2021.