COVID-19 vaccine: Many Nigerians vaccinated, but few major side effects

Notwithstanding heightened division in opinion, negative propaganda and the deepening conspiracy theory against the COVID-19 vaccine, many Nigerians already have taken the vaccine. In this report by Sade Oguntola, individuals speak on their experience with the vaccine, including what it does not do.

AFTER Kemi Asenuga received the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, she felt slightly sick and decided to take a pain killer. Her feverish feeling only lasted a few minutes and she was all about her daily chores. However for Mr Akinade Adesina, who also took the vaccine at the Idi-ogogo Primary Health care centre, Ibadan with Mrs Kemi Asenuga, the case was slightly different.

“I felt very heavy and wanting to sleep, so I close early at work to sleep. But by the next day, I was hale and hearty,” Mr Adesina, a male nurse at a private hospital said.

Mr Steve Akinrinade, state coordinator for National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) who has also taken the vaccine said he didn’t feel anyhow afterwards. He stated: “It is normal to feel pain at the injection site, but aside from that, there was nothing else.”

Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Muideen Olatunji’s experience is not different either and the vaccine shouldn’t disturb individuals going about their daily activities

“I experienced nothing after taking it. Even the next day, I had a busy schedule at work, featuring on different programmes,” Dr Olatunji said. “Individuals that feel different in their body after the vaccination need to report such to the health centre where they received the vaccine.”

But Mr Tunde Onakoya’s experience is different. He had a bout of pains, with headache and fever 12 hours after he took the COVID-19 vaccine.

Mr Onakoya declared: “Everything was okay until about 12 hours after the vaccination. I started to have a feverish feeling, was shivering and at the same time sweating even though I was in an air-conditioned room. Then there was a severe headache.

“These, all started about 10 pm, and lying down to sleep was difficult because I was also experiencing muscular and joint pain, as well as stomach cramps. All these lasted for about 12 hours. But afterwards, for another 12 hours, there was a slight headache.”

Professor Akin Osibogun, a member of Lagos State COVID-19 Response Team, recounting his experience said he felt some tiredness.  “I felt lazy for one day. By the second day, I did half a day and returned home because I was feeling a bit sleepy,” Professor Osibogun said. “But the third day, I did a full day’s job, even attended a meeting at the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, in Ijanikin.”

These are among the one million health workers the Government of Nigeria is targeting in the first phase of its nationwide rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations that began last month. Early March, Nigeria received 3.92 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

It is the first shipment of the over 16 million doses allocated to the country through the COVAX Facility, aimed at vaccinating 20 per cent of the population.  The country is expected to receive an additional 42 million doses of approved vaccines through the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, but details on the timeline of shipments are not yet clear.

NPHCDA’s daily COVID-19 vaccine update showed that about 638,291 eligible Nigerians have been vaccinated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of March 30, 2021.

The report also showed that Lagos State has vaccinated 122,714, which is 48.3 per cent of the targeted population, making it the highest in the country. This is followed by Ogun State with 50, 052, Kaduna State with 43,601 and Bauchi State with 33,157. The lowest number of vaccinated population is Abia State.

Professor Osibogun stated that since the commencement of COVID-19 vaccination in Lagos State, individuals that have experienced reactions following the immunization are not so many.

“The severe reaction is almost zero per cent; one or two of the 120,000 that were vaccinated initially reported severe reactions in Lagos. With regards to the adverse effects following immunization, we had about 20, within the first one or two days.

“They are fine and going about their businesses, but we are still monitoring to see whether these complaints are directly related to the vaccine. We will come to that conclusion if the proportion of those who have those effects among the vaccinated people are higher than the normal proportion we normally see in the population.”

Some people may experience side effects after the vaccine. These are usually mild and are much less serious than developing coronavirus or complications associated with coronavirus. Any side effects usually go away within a few days.

Common side effects of the coronavirus vaccine may include tenderness, swelling and or redness at the injection site, headache, muscle ache, feeling tired and raised body temperature or fever (temperature above 37.8°C).

Professor Osibogun said people that feel uncomfortable or have any complaints on the coronavirus vaccine are to get back to the health centre where they received the vaccine or call the health officer on the telephone number indicated on their COVID-19 vaccination card.

He declared: “The health officer will access what they are going through and determine whether they need to be directed to a general hospital or Lagos State University Teaching Hospital or if all they need is just a reassurance.”

Mrs Eunice Ninihinlola, Oyo State Immunisation officer, says no serious side effects has been recorded since COVID-19 vaccination commenced in Oyo State. However, she said in reducing even minor complaints, individuals coming for the vaccination are always advised to eat before coming; take pain killers if experiencing any pain or fever and not to apply pressure or rub menthol balm on the vaccination site.

However, other complaints that are not minor, she said, should be reported back to the health facility where they got the vaccine, both for appropriate documentation of the complaint and adequate treatment.

Chairman, Technical Working Group for the Vaccine, Dr Bassey Okposen, assuring that the vaccine is safe said complaints like swelling and or redness at the injection site, muscle ache, feeling tired and raised body temperature or fever are things individuals sometimes experience after vaccination, and not only the COVID-19 vaccine.

He added, “some do experience tiredness and so should ignore it and continue with their daily duties and works.”

Dr Okposen, also Director, Disease Control and Immunisation, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), encouraged individuals to download the med safety app and report any incidence of adverse reaction following immunization.

The database of all the complaints, he declared, is also to help ensure follow-up of such cases.

Professor Fatai Fehintola, a consultant pharmacologist at University College, Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, said.  “They are all part of the body’s way of being sensitised to the virus, so that when the virus comes, the body will be protected against COVID-19 infection.”

Professor Fehintola said although there is no data supporting abstinence from alcohol intake following COVID-19 vaccination, it is still advisable to abstain from alcohol to rule out anything that could possibly task-specific organs of the body unnecessarily.

He declared that reports on the social media of a woman who took diclofenac following the COVID-19 vaccine and died are anecdotal.

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