THERE have been no reported cases of adverse reaction to the four Covid-19 vaccines being administered in Zimbabwe since mass inoculation against the coronavirus began nearly four months ago.
More than 571 000 people had received their first dose of
the vaccine by Friday while nearly 203 000 had been administered their second
shot. Zimbabwe is administering a basket of four vaccines — Sinopharm, Sinovac,
Sputnik V and Covaxin — which were granted Emergency Use Authorisation by the
Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) following rigorous examination.
According to MCAZ — the statutory body responsible for
monitoring the effects of medical drugs licensed for use locally — Zimbabwe has
not recorded a single case of severe or potentially life-threatening side
effects. Health experts define an adverse effect as serious when it results in
hospitalisation, extended stay in hospital, a significant reduction in
functional capacity, or a life-threatening event like severe allergic reactions
or death.
Chief Co-ordinator of the National Response to the Covid-19
pandemic in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Agnes Mahomva,
confirmed that no adverse side effects have been reported.
“We are not aware of any serious adverse vaccine side
effects like unusual blood clots or death that have been reported so far,” said
Dr Mahomva.
Responding to questions from our Harare Bureau, MCAZ
projects and public relations officer, Mr Shingai Gwatidzo, said only minor
side effects, which are consistent with profiles obtained during development of
vaccines, have been recorded.
“The authority has received reports of minor Adverse Events
Following Immunisation (AEFI) or side effects from the Covid-19 vaccines. The
reports submitted are generally consistent with the side effects profile
obtained from clinical studies that were conducted by the vaccine developers.
These include pain at the injection site, headache and fever.
The authority continues to encourage reporting of any side
effects that may be experienced following Covid-19 vaccination.”
Several European countries temporarily ceased administering
the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine amid concerns about its links to cases
of blood clots. Most, however, later resumed vaccinations with AstraZeneca, but
often with limits to older age groups.
South Africa was forced to offload one million doses of the
AstraZeneca vaccine after trials had shown the shot offered minimal protection
against mild to moderate illness caused by the dominant local coronavirus
variant. It has also suspended its use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine
citing concerns about blood clots in vaccine recipients.
Mr Gwatidzo said rigorous monitoring measures have been put
in place to identify and isolate reported cases of severe side effects.
“As the national pharmacovigilance centre, MCAZ is
responsible for safety monitoring of medicines, which means that after issuing
Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), MCAZ is responsible for processing adverse
events following immunisation (side effects) reports that would be submitted. These
reports are then taken through a process known as causality assessment whereby
the side effects that are reported are analysed against the profiles of the
suspected vaccines. Decisions are then made depending on the frequency and
severity of the adverse events, with the overall aim of protecting public
health. Adverse Events Following Immunisation forms have been adapted for
Covid-19 vaccines and distributed through the Ministry of Health and Child Care
Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).”
Top German statistics website, Statista, ranks Zimbabwe
fourth in Africa in terms of the percentage of the population that has been
inoculated. Data from the website shows that five in 100 people had been
vaccinated in the country as at May 12, 2021. Zimbabwe is ranked third in
Southern Africa after the Seychelles and Mauritius, countries with smaller
populations. South Africa is ranked at number 28 on the continent and 10th in
the region.
Government has decentralised vaccination centres to the
suburbs in order to accelerate the pace of the vaccination campaign and reach
the goal of herd immunity by year-end. A recent study on health workers in
Indonesia showed that Sinovac — one of the vaccines being used in Zimbabwe —
has an efficacy rate of over 95 percent.
The study tracked 128 290 health workers in capital city,
Jakarta, from January to March and found that the vaccine protected 98 percent
of the workers from death and 96 percent from hospitalisation as soon as seven
days after the second dose. The report also shows that 94 percent of the
workers had been protected against symptomatic infection. Sunday Mail
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