Prime News Ghana

FDA begins intense evaluation and monitoring to check adverse effect of AstraZeneca vaccine

By Mutala Yakubu
Shares
facebook sharing button Share
twitter sharing button Tweet
email sharing button Email
sharethis sharing button Share

The Head of Safety Monitoring at the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) George Sabblah says Ghana has the best system in terms of vaccine management.

He also said the FDA has begun and intense evaluation and monitoring to check the adverse effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered in Ghana.

This follows concerns about the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccines by some European countries.

READ ALSO: Vaccines generally have side effects; AstraZeneca is safe - FDA

Speaking on Joy FM's Newsfile Mr Sabblah said there is no cause for alarm.

"What we are doing is we have a proactive safety monitoring plan and we are collecting data from three basic sources. As you know we already have a Spontaneous report system where patients and health care workers can report side effects of the use of vaccines but before the launch of the deployment, we had organized training for almost everyone involved in this. We have a mobile App that people who took the vaccine can download and report side effects of the vaccine, we have an online platform as well".

About 14 European countries including 12 EU members suspended the use of the shots altogether – with Sweden joining the list today – while another five have black-listed specific batches and a handful of governments outside Europe have also pulled the emergency brake.

They said they were pausing the rollout following reports of blood clots in some recipients. Blood clots are solid clumps that form in the blood, which can be life-threatening if not treated quickly. The countries stressed that it was a precautionary measure.

Â