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Less than 1% of fully vaccinated Filipinos experienced 'breakthrough' COVID-19 infection -- FDA
Less than 1% of fully vaccinated Filipinos experienced 'breakthrough' COVID-19 infection -- FDA
Less than one percent of Filipinos who were fully vaccinated against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had experienced "breakthrough" infections, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.
FDA Director General Rolando Enrique Domingo said that they recorded 116 cases of breakthrough infections as of August 1.
“Most of them or 88 percent are mild or asymptomatic, 11 percent ang na-hospitalized, at may isang death tayo out of these breakthrough infections (Most of them or 88 percent are mild or asymptomatic, 11 percent have been hospitalized, and we have one death out of these breakthrough infections),” said Domingo on Friday, August 13.
Domingo said that there were a total of 9,115,963 fully vaccinated Filipinos as of August 1.
“Kung bibilangin natin ang percentage nito (If we count the percentage), this is 0.0013 percent out of 9.1 million fully vaccinated individuals,” he said.
Domingo defined a breakthrough infection as when a person contracted COVID-19 “more than 14 days after completion of all doses.”
The FDA chief said 91 breakthrough infection cases were recorded among people fully vaccinated with Sinovac, including one death; 24 cases among those who got AstraZeneca, and one among Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients.
“Kaya pinakamarami tayong narereport din na naoobserve from the vaccinees of Sinovac and AstraZeneca kasi sila naman--- ang pinakamarami natin na nagamit na vaccine at this time (The reason why most of the breakthrough cases came from the vaccinees of Sinovac and AstraZeneca because they are the most used vaccine brand at this time) ,” noted Domingo.
No breakthrough cases have so far been reported from other brands, he said.
“Wala naman talagang 100 percent na efficacy na vaccine. It really depends on each and every person. Hindi tayo kasi lahat pare-pareho din ang level ng reaction natin sa bakuna at yung level ng immunogenicity na nage-generate ng ating katawan (There is really no vaccine with 100 percent efficacy. It really depends on each and every person. Not all of us have the same level of reaction to the vaccine and the level of immunogenicity that our body generates),” he said.
“There will always be breakthrough cases kahit ano pong bakuna at hindi lang po sa bakuna sa COVID kundi sa lahat ng bakuna, sa lahat ng sakit. Ganoon po talaga (There will always be breakthrough cases no matter what the vaccine is and not just for COVID-19, but with other vaccines also for other diseases. That's the way it is),” he added.
Meanwhile, Domingo noted that there were 546 vaccine recipients who contracted COVID-19 after their first dose, including 61 deaths; while 51 recipients, including two deaths got COVID-19 within 14 days after they got their second dose.
“The benefit of vaccination outweighs the risk. Vaccines are an effective and critical tool to control the pandemic,” said Domingo.
“It is important to complete the recommended doses...Observe health protocols, maximum protection sets in two weeks after the- second shot,” he added.