The Food and Drugs Authority says the country has not recorded any case of blood clots from its COVID-19  vaccination exercise.

According to the Authority, even though vaccines and medicines tend to have some side effects, no serious case has been recorded in the country.

It explains that the assurance is from its Joint COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Review Committee which has monitored all adverse reports from the vaccines.

“In the view of the above, the FDA would like to reassure the public that it is closely monitoring this situation locally and to date, no events of blood clots linked to the COVID-19 vaccine have been reported amongst those who have been vaccinated in Ghana.”

“Generally, vaccines and medicines tend to have some side effects and this needs to be continually balanced against the expected benefits in preventing illness.”

It thus assured the public of its continuous monitoring of the vaccination exercise to ensure public health and safety.

The Authority made the assurance in a press statement issued on Tuesday, March 16, 2021.

“The Authority continues to work with its committee of experts, other regulators globally and will use its established safety monitoring system to support the vaccine programme to ensure public health and safety.’

FDA’s assurance comes on the back of the concerns raised by some countries of adverse cases recorded from the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Germany, Italy, France, and Spain have temporarily halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution.

Germany for instance took the decision on the advice from its National Health Regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI).

The United Kingdom has also recorded 40 cases of blood clots.

It is however unclear whether it will continue to administer the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there is no evidence that incidents involving blood clots are caused by the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

In a statement, the WHO said it was reviewing reports relating to the jab, but it was important that vaccination campaigns continued.

“As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events, the findings and any unlikely changes to current recommendations will be immediately communicated to the public,” he said.

“As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus.”

Below is the full statement from FDA