Al-Shabaab issues warning against AstraZeneca vaccine

Somalia’s militant group Al-Shabab has rejected the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine citing its 'ineffective and adverse' side effects.

A statement released on Tuesday by the group warned Somalis against administering the AstraZeneca vaccine saying it is “deadly and unsafe.”

The statement linked the recent move by dozens of countries including European nations like Germany, Italy and France to reject the vaccine because of its side effects.

“These are countries with far better medical resources than the apostate Somali regime, which doesn’t even have qualified medical personnel or laboratories to assess the efficiency, safety or performance of the vaccine,” the statement read.

“Do now allow your children and family members to be used as guinea pigs in the race to develop a potent vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic. Do not allow your family to be used as subjects in the experimentation of the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a time when a countless number of people have died, and hundreds of others have developed severe adverse reactions, including the formation of blood clots, as a result of administering the vaccine,” the statement continued.

Experts probing links between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and blood clots have found no specific risk factors, including age, but are carrying out further analysis, the EU's drug regulator said Wednesday.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said however that its safety committee expected to issue an "updated recommendation" on the controversial vaccine after its monthly meeting next week.