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The first batch of COVID vaccines touched down in South Africa in February 2021. Health workers were the first to get a jab under the Sisonke study. But even before the country had bought any jabs, our reporters were writing about the logistics and the politics of the project. If you want to know how well the vaccines work, how the different jabs compare or what it takes to create a vaccine from research, to regulation, to rollout, you’re at the right place.

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HomeMultimediaVideos Shots, symptoms and side effects: How regulators ensure the safety of...
MultimediaVideosSpecial ReportsCOVID-19 vaccines

[WATCH] Shots, symptoms and side effects: How regulators ensure the safety of COVID vaccines

By Dylan Bush and Aisha Abdool Karim

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  • Medicines regulators look out for consumers and constantly monitor the safety of health products.
  • Drug companies have to submit regular safety updates on their COVID jabs to regulatory bodies to track reactions among people who have been vaccinated.
  • Each case is investigated by the regulator and then only if it is scientifically linked to the vaccine is it called a side effect.
Medicines regulators constantly monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines by tracking reactions among people who have gotten the jab. Each case is investigated to see if the symptoms are caused by the vaccine, in which case the response will be listed as a side effect.
  • Read the full script here
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Dylan Bush is Bhekisisa's production and multimedia manager.

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Aisha Abdool Karim was a senior health reporter at Bhekisisa from 2020 to 2022.

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