Despite rumors of COVID-19 deaths among those who have completed the vaccine against the virus, the Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed that it has not yet happened in the Philippines while emphasizing that it provides appropriate protection against the disease.
It is estimated that as many as 750 fully vaccinated people have died in the United States (asymptomatic and without COVID-19), while some doctors in Indonesia have died despite “complete vaccination.”
“[A]tin pong binibigyan ng garantiya ang ating mga kababayan na hanggang sa ngayon, wala pa hong namamatay na fully vaccinated individual dito po sa ating bansa as a result of COVID-19,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, Tuesday.
“So we have zero cases as a result of COVID-19 vaccines, so ibig sabihin wala, at wala pa rin hong namamatay na fully vaccinated individuals because of COVID-19.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently has the mandate to record side effects or adverse events following immunization. However, the DOH and FDA are working together on its evaluation regarding what actually causes the deaths.
Zero fatality among fully vaccinated Filipinos: DOH
In April, FDA director-general Eric Domingo said 24 people had died after being injected with the COVID-19 vaccine. However, this is not due to the side effects of the vaccine.
It is still possible for COVID-19 to hit fully vaccinated (breakthrough infections). However, the data show that it can protect against (1) symptomatic disease, especially in (2) severe COVID-19 and hospitalization.
In a New York Times report on the Indonesian Medical Association report, at least 20 of the 401 doctors who died there on COVID-19 were “fully vaccinated” using CoronaVac by Chinese drugmaker Sinovac.
Sinovac is the oldest COVID-19 vaccine brand in existence today in the Philippines.
“These media reports have only stated the number of individuals who are infected, the number of individuals who died, but they never mentioned how many healthcare workers they had, how many of these healthcare workers have received the first or second dose. So marami hong detalye na kailangan nating malaman,” said Vergeire.
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