26 of 27 new Cebu City deaths are unvaxxed

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City has logged 27 deaths from COVID-19 from July 1 to 23, 2021 and 26 of them were all unvaccinated, a health official said.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, Department of Health-7 chief pathologist and spokesperson for the Visayas Vaccination Operation Center, yesterday said the figure only bolsters the need for people to get inoculated against COVID-19.

As of July 27, 2021, the Vigiflow reporting tool of DOH showed a total of 597,139 individuals already inoculated with the first dose in Central Visayas, of which 4,709 (0.79%) experienced minor adverse events and 32 (0.0054%) experienced serious adverse events.

Some 297,315 have also been vaccinated with the second dose as of that time, of which 297 (0.099%) and 6 (0.002%) experienced minor and serious adverse events, respectively.

The Regional Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee composed of experts has yet to convene to discuss more about the serious adverse events.

But Loreche said they have already looked into 15 of the serious adverse events noted.

“We have already finished evaluating 15 of the serious adverse events and there is no direct causality at all. Meaning, the death was not in any way related to the vaccine,” Loreche told The FREEMAN.

Asked to expound more, Loreche said all 15 had comorbidities or preexisting medical conditions.

Province patients contribute to queuing

Meanwhile, patients from Cebu province contribute to the queuing at Cebu City’s private hospitals, data cited by a reliable source showed.

The source, a high-ranking member of the local Inter-Agency Task Force, said that of the total 530 patients currently admitted in Cebu City’s private hospitals, 203 or 38.3% declared themselves as residents of Cebu province.

Some183 or 34.5% declared themselves as Cebu City residents while 99 were from Lapu-Lapu City, 39 from Mandaue City, and the rest from other areas outside Cebu.

The source also revealed that of the total 130 deaths for the month of July in Cebu, 81 or 62.3% involved province residents while 32 or 24.6% involved those from Cebu City.

Eleven deaths were noted from Lapu-Lapu while six were from Mandaue.

But as province patients are being rushed to Cebu City hospitals, provincial and district hospitals in Cebu have reported a low bed occupancy, which means there are still enough beds to cater to more patients.

Cebu has four provincial and 12 district hospitals which have allocated over 400 COVID-19 beds. Yet only 86 or 21% of such number is presently occupied, according to Provincial Health Officer Dr. Christina Giango.

Also, isolation facilities in different local government units are only 20% full, said Giango.

Based on the Department of Health-7’s case bulletin on July 27, Cebu City now has 2,290 active cases plus two more deaths, Cebu province has 2,078 active cases plus 10 deaths, Lapu-Lapu has 1,021 active cases plus one death, and Mandaue has 749 plus one death as well.

‘No, we won’t become zombies’

On another issue, Loreche addressed some claims circulating on social media that the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines aren’t real vaccines and that they will turn a person into a zombie, saying there is absolutely no truth to these rumors.

“Hindi tayo magiging zombie po.Huwag po kayong matakot na isang taon, dalawang taon, tatlong taon na tayo po ay magiging zombie. Hindi po iyan totoo. At tamang-tama lang po na tatandaan natin, hindi natin iaalok, ibibigay ang bakuna kung tayo po ay hindi sigurado na ito ay safe and effective,” she said.

Loreche stated that rumors like this need to be corrected because it reflects the public’s lack of education about the vaccines.

Most of the public’s speculations, she said, concern about how the vaccines were made in just a year, their efficacy rates, and their protection against the different variants of interest.

“Tandaan po natin na ang inactivation na teknolohiya ay ginagamit sa ating mga nakasanayan na bakuna na kagaya ng measles, polio, hepatitis, at iba pa. So hindi po tayo matakot. Kung sasabihin naman natin mRNA, alam niyo yung teknolohiya na po nayan ginawa na po yan noon, dinevelop at sinimulan pa iyan noon sa SARS at Ebola pandemic,” she added.

She said the technology used for the mass productions of vaccines is already established; that is why mRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer and Moderna were produced in a short period of time.

Loreche also explained that DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule containing the genetic instructions needed for all livings things to develop, live and reproduce.

She said that in multi-cellular organism like humans, DNA resides in the nucleus and vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna are not designated to target the DNA.

“Instead, its purpose is to act as an antigen that develops our antibodies to the COVID-19. When a person gets exposed to the coronavirus, these antigens will activate to fight the offending microorganism like the SARS-CoV-2,” Loreche said.

Loreche urged the public to know more about the basics of how the vaccines work as she emphasized that all types of vaccines will prevent severe complications if COVID-19 is contracted.

“Base sa mga eskperto natin, pwede pa yung ating mga bakuna, effective pa rin sila sa Delta variant kung sakaling may Delta variant,” she said.  — with Le Phyllis F. Antojado, Caecent N. Magsumbol , Jomelou Q. Menorias, JMD (FREEMAN)