By Lenah Bosibori
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has released a report of a study confirming the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in Kenya.
Speaking during the release of the results in Nairobi, Dr Ahmed Mohammed Director of Health Products and Technologies at PPB said the study confirms that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, with most reported side effects like headaches, injection site pain, fever, and dizziness being moderate and resolving within 48 hours.
“These findings reinforce our assurances to the public about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines they received. Vaccines remain critical tools in the fight against the virus and urge for more active surveillance of other health products beyond COVID-19 vaccines,” Dr Mohammed told Africa Science News.
He further added that the COVID-19 study findings reveal that the Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) incident rate was highest at dose one, with older groups experiencing a higher risk. “Factors like age, vaccine type, and underlying health conditions influenced the likelihood of experiencing side effects,” said Dr Mohammed.
Kenya’s participation in the (African Union Smart Surveillance) AU-3S program an initiative that aimed to strengthen safety surveillance, for medical products across Africa with a strong focus on COVID-19 vaccines alongside Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ethiopia, showed no new safety signals, reinforcing global data on vaccine safety.
The study was conducted in collaboration with the National Vaccines and Immunization Program (NVIP) and CIHEB-Kenya in February 2023 and November 2023 in 17 sites that were health facilities a mix of private and public who majorly serve a large population in 15 counties.
It reached 9238 respondents most of them female as they showed a willingness to receive the Vaccine.
On his part, Dr. Bramuel Tongola, a regulatory officer at PPB, told the Africa Science News that while adverse events following immunization (AEFI) can occur, they tend to be mild and do not significantly impact the daily lives of those vaccinated. “Our study found that the benefit of the vaccines continues to outweigh the risks,” he said.
“The events of moderate side effects do occur and the rate at which they occur is that for every 100 we have 32 people reporting (IFCs) that are adverse events following the vaccine and these IFCs are mild in nature and also depend on the antigen that the person does receive,” added Dr Tongola.
The study sought to identify the incident, type, severity, and predictors of adverse events following immunization after vaccination with Covid 19 antigens.
The study also noted that older individuals and those receiving their first dose were more likely to experience side effects.
Vaccines used in the study included Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer because, at the time of the study, those were the only antigens that were in circulation and the supply chain in the country.
“We do appreciate that it is an emergency we have with us and we have to look for solutions, and with that, there will come vaccines, World Health Organization (WHO) has already issued an emergency use authorization for a Mpox vaccine, let us make use of the existing systems that we have,” reiterated Dr. Tongola.
He further added that PPB has existing systems to monitor the vaccines. “When events do occur, we monitor them and respond to them appropriately,” he added,
Despite the reassuring findings, the PPB recommended expanding active surveillance to other health products and increasing public awareness about vaccine safety. The board also plans to employ similar strategies in monitoring future vaccines, such as the WHO-approved Mpox vaccine.
Martha Mandale of PPB noted the progress made in public education, which has significantly improved vaccine uptake despite initial misinformation. “We will use the same strategies to counter any misinformation regarding Mpox,” she added.
According to data from Our World in Data, by September 2023, Kenya had administered over 24.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, with about 40% of the population receiving at least one dose, and around 33% fully vaccinated. These figures reflect Kenya’s ongoing commitment to expanding vaccine access through public health campaigns and international cooperation.