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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Death due to COVID-19 infection more likely than from a vaccine shot, data shows

Death due to COVID-19 infection more likely than from a vaccine shot, data shows

Published Feb 22, 2022 02:04 pm

About 15,200 deaths for every 1 million coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines have been recorded, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

A health worker prepares a syringe with the Sinovac Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination drive for schoolchildren aged 12-18 in Surabaya on July 11, 2021, as Indonesia faces its most serious outbreak driven by the highly infectious Delta variant.
Juni Kriswanto / AFP

This was according to the COVID-19 Cumulative Case Fatality Rate as of Feb. 21, presented by Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during the Palace press briefing.

In comparison, for every 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, only 0.03 deaths have been assessed as being causally associated with the vaccines.

In other words, it is around three deaths per 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. This was according to the adverse event following immunization (AEFI) deaths assessed to be causally associated with or related to COVID-19 vaccines as of Feb. 19.

AEFI refers to any event that occurred after getting vaccinated. It may be bad or unexpected signs or symptoms, abnormal results of a laboratory or an illness due to the vaccine.

DOH however, clarified that not all AEFIs a person experiences are from vaccines. For example, according to Vergeire if a person would have nausea after getting vaccinated but it was later ruled out to be from food poisoning, it is not considered as an AEFI due to the vaccine.

"Maaring matukoy na AEFI ang nausea ngunit hindi ito dahil sa bakuna (The nausea may be considered as an AEFI but it's not because of the vaccine)," she said.

She added that if an individual would die after getting a COVID shot but from a car accident, it's still considered to be an AEFI but it was not caused by the vaccine.

Usual AEFIs due to vaccines include pain or swelling in the injected area, fatigue, muscle or joint pains, chills, and headaches. Vergeire said that these are signs of the body's immune response to the vaccine and will disappear in one to three days.

On the other hand, serious AEFIs are those that result in death; hospitalization, or prolongation of an existing hospitalization; cause persistent or significant disability or incapacity; and cause congenital anomalies or birth defects.

Vergeire said that these can be severe, critical or life-threatening; require intervention to prevent any of the said outcomes; or classified as a medically important event or reaction.

The DOH reminded however, that serious AEFIs are very rare and occur only in 30 per 1 million doses administered in the country.

Vergeire said that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and DOH Epidemiology Board are working together to ensure all adverse side effects are properly monitored.

Related Tags

department of health ADVERSE EVENTS FOLLOWING IMMUNIZATION covid-19 Department of Health (DOH) covid-19 vaccination program COVID-19 vaccines AEFI COVID-19 deaths covid-19 vaccine doh
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