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COVID-19 Vaccination: Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine may Loose confidence to rare blood clots side-effect

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Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is the Option offered to under-30s after UK records 79 cases of rare blood clots out of 20m jabs administered

 

Experts warned of damage to confidence in the UK’s vaccine programme after 10 million adults under 30 were told they will be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab following concerns over rare blood clots.

Healthy 18 to 29-year-olds who are not at high risk of Covid should have the option of a different jab if one is available in their area, the government’s joint committee on vaccines and immunization (JCVI) said weeks after some European countries suspended the use of AstraZeneca jabs in younger people.

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For older people, the benefits of the vaccine – the most widely-used in the UK – far outweigh the risks, the JCVI added. The UK has recorded 79 rare blood clots cases, 19 of whom died, out of 20m AstraZeneca jabs administered.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, called the move “a course correction” and said there should be little or no impact on the vaccine rollout timeline, though he warned that under-30s could face short delays in getting inoculated.

Boris Johnson tweeted: “We will follow today’s updated advice, which should allow people of all ages to continue to have full confidence in vaccines, helping us save lives and cautiously return towards normality.”

Spain Cornella Astrazeneca Covid 19 Vaccine - 07 Apr 2021<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock (11848049c) A health worker prepares a dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Cornella, Spain, April 7, 2021. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) confirmed on Wednesday that the occurrence of blood clots with low blood platelets are strongly associated with the administration of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, but should be still listed as very rare side effects. Spain Cornella Astrazeneca Covid 19 Vaccine - 07 Apr 2021

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The recommendation came as it was confirmed that the European regulator is examining whether other vaccines using similar technology to the AstraZeneca jab pose any risk.

There had been three cases of venous thromboembolism blood clots with low platelets involving the Johnson & Johnson jab, a European Medicines Agency (EMA) official said.

Symptoms of the rare brain blood clots include severe headaches and blurred vision, and most cases occur within two weeks of a jab – but such events are treatable if medical help is sought, experts said.

In the UK up to 31 March, there were 79 reports of these rare blood clots with low platelets – some but not all of them in the brain, it was revealed on Wednesday. Of those affected, 19 people died, although it is not known if the blood clots were the cause in every case.

More were women – 51 – and they were all aged 18-79. Three were under 30. But the recommendation of an alternative vaccine for that age group is because their risk from Covid itself is very low.

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In older age groups, the experts believe, the benefits of vaccination significantly outweigh the rare side-effect risk, but in younger people “it is more finely balanced”.

Dr June Raine, CEO of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), said the risk was “extremely small” and the authority had not yet concluded that the vaccine was responsible.

“The evidence is firming up. While it is a strong possibility, more work is needed to establish beyond all doubt that the vaccine has caused this side-effect,” she said.

There are concerns, however, that confidence in the AstraZeneca jab has been hit.

“Today’s decision is a severe blow to the public’s vaccine confidence, which is already fragile,” said Dr Chris Papadopoulos, principal lecturer in public health at the University of Bedfordshire. It might be the right decision, but needed to be coupled to efforts to counter vaccine hesitancy, he added.

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Prof Martin Hibberd, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said it was a sensible decision. “However, I would like to see the evidence that the other vaccines are safer.”

The Royal College of Midwives said young people and pregnant women would be concerned.

“Although pregnant women who are clinically extremely vulnerable are eligible for the vaccine, those under 30 have seen their options severely limited, as the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is not approved for use for them,” said its executive director, Birte Harlev-Lam.

Pregnant women should discuss vaccination with their doctor. Those who have any history of blood clots should not have the AstraZeneca jab.

It came as the EMA said the rare blood clots would be listed formally as a side-effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, though it did not announce any restrictions on use. Several EU countries, including France and Germany, have already limited use to citizens aged over 55 or 60, or suspended its use entirely.

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Emer Cooke, executive director of the EMA, said: “In the UK, I cannot comment on the decision-making to restrict to a certain age but what I can tell you is there is a lot more use in the younger age groups in the UK than in the EU at the moment and we will certainly take this into account in our further evaluations.”

 

Asked why European countries have different stances from the UK, Adam Finn from the JCVI said Britain had “extremely detailed data” based on a high number of administered AstraZeneca jabs.

“I think other countries in Europe that have seen clusters of cases … they are not in such a good evidence-driven position to make their judgments,” he said, adding that “the risk-benefit [equation] does vary … from one country to another”.

The EMA said it could not identify the cause of the blood-clotting event, which was mostly, but not entirely, in women under 60.

It is advising that healthcare professionals and people getting the vaccine should be made aware of the issue and the symptoms of the clots, which range from shortness of breath and chest pain to persistent headaches and blurred vision.

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“It is of great importance that healthcare professionals and people coming for vaccination are aware of these risks and look out for signs or symptoms,” said Cooke.

Like the EMA, the MHRA is a regulator and an adviser on safety and efficacy to governments.

The UK recommendation that under-30s should be offered an alternative vaccine comes from the JCVI. Its head, Prof Wei Shen Lim, said it had only made the recommendation to government “out of the utmost caution rather than because we have any serious safety concerns”.

Dr Peter Arlett, the head of the EMA data analytics and methods taskforce, said the agency was examining whether other vaccines posed any risk, citing cases of rare blood clots involving the Johnson & Johnson jab.

“There have been three cases with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine of blood clots associated with low platelets which have some similarities to these cases that we’ve been describing today,” he said.

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“However, the numbers are extremely small compared with the 5 million patients that have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine worldwide. This is, however, under close scrutiny, the [committee] is looking at it carefully, and I think it would be fair to say there’s intensive monitoring of this issue across the vaccines.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, effective and has already saved thousands of lives.

“Everybody who has already had a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should receive a second dose of the same brand, irrespective of age, except for the very small number of people who experienced blood clots with low platelet counts from their first vaccination.”

 

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Health

NCDC announces 210 additional COVID-19 cases, two deaths in 24 hours

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By Gistflash News

Sept 26, 2021

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says the country recorded two more COVID-19-related deaths with 210 additional cases in the last 24 hours.

The NCDC, in its latest update on Sunday morning, said the cases were reported in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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It indicated that the country’s total infection from the pandemic currently stands at 204,201 while the fatality toll increased to 2,673.

It also noted that six states – Benue, Kano, Nasarawa, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara – recorded no new cases.

The breakdown shows that Lagos remains the nation’s epicentre of the virus with 79 cases, followed by Edo with 20 new infections and Anambra third with 19 cases.

Other states are Rivers (18), Ondo (15), Gombe (14), Oyo (13), Kaduna (11), Ekiti (8), Delta (6), FCT (5), Bayelsa (1) and Kano (1).

The NCDC stated with the new figure, a total of 192,421 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19 in the country.

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It added that over 2. 9 million samples of the virus from the nation’s roughly 200 million population have been tested.

The NCDC noted that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 2, continued to coordinate the national response activities.

The agency stated that the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 9,098.

NAN

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NHIS, NYSC sign MoU for corps members’ health insurance cover

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By Gistflash News

Sept 7, 2021

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to give corps members health insurance cover during service.

The MoU was signed by the Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof. Mohammed Sambo and the Director-General of NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, in Abuja on Tuesday.

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Sambo said that it would ensure that corps members were integrated into the scheme to enable them to properly access healthcare during their service year.

“We are working on the presidential mandate on leaving no one behind in the health insurance scheme.

“So, today, it is big step to ensure that corps members are integrated into the scheme, this will expand coverage ratio of the scheme and also access to health facilities for corps members,’’ Sambo said.

According to him, for the purpose of continuity the corps members after their service year will enroll on what is called kinship programme.

He said that the corps members would migrate from the NYSC insurance to kinship where a token is paid and when they are employed they would join the formal sector programme.

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Also speaking, the D-G of NYSC said that the MoU was in line with presidential directive that corps members should be enrolled in the scheme.

Ibrahim said that such directive showed that the government was concerned about the health of corps members in the country.

According to him, such gesture will encourage the corps members to carry out their service properly.

Ibrahim said that MoU would address the financial burden of the members in terms of health.

NAN

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COVID-19: Nigeria’s total infection toll now stands at 195,052, with 2,522 fatalities

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By Gistflash News

Sept 5, 2021

The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) says the country’s total infection toll now stands at 195,052, with a fatality toll of 2,522.

The NCDC made this known via its verified website on Sunday morning, adding that Nigeria recorded 27 more Coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths and 964  new infections from 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the 964 fresh cases reported on Saturday indicated an increase from the 444 cases posted on Friday.

The public health agency noted that Lagos State, the country’s epicenter of COVID-19, reported 456; Ondo followed with 180, while Edo recorded the third highest infection with 66 cases.

Amongst others are: Rivers (62), Niger (26), Akwa Ibom (25), Ekiti (22), Kwara (22), Oyo (22), Kaduna (17), Delta (14), Benue (12), Gombe (9), Plateau (9), FCT (8), Jigawa (5), Ogun (4), Bayelsa and Nasarawa (2) each, and Bauchi (1).

The agency also noted that the country’s active coronavirus cases in Nigeria were 10,026, with a total of 182,463 cases successfully treated and discharged after recovery as of Sept. 4. 

The NCDC said that over 2.7million samples of the virus out of the nation’s roughly 200 million population were tested.

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The agency said that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated at Level two continues to coordinate the national response activities.

Meanwhile, the NCDC noted that with the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, Nigerians must all do their part to help minimise instances of exposure.

The agency stressed that every COVID-19 related death was a reminder of the damage COVID-19 could cause when it gets into the  community.

While urging Nigerians to get vaccinated, it stressed that the COVID-19 was causing severe illness in people of all ages.

The centre therefore advised Nigerians to get vaccinated now to protect themselves, their friends and community from the virus.

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NAN

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