DOH: No deaths directly related to COVID-19 vaccination

MANILA, Philippines — To this day, not a single death in the Philippines can be directly linked to the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

“Based on causality assessment, there is no death directly linked to the (COVID-19) vaccination,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, citing expert evaluations recorded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Based on the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard, a total of 94,236,990 doses of various brands of COVID-19 vaccines have already been administered in the country as of Dec. 8.

The same data source showed there are 39,560,598 individuals who are fully vaccinated and 54,033,033 others injected with their first dose. Also, a total of 643,370 individuals have already received their booster shot or third dose.

Vergeire reiterated that the deaths of three minors who received the jab have been initially found to be unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine.

One of the minors died of non-COVID-19 pneumonia while the other one succumbed to dengue. The third one died of tuberculosis, the DOH said.

Vergeire encouraged those who have not been vaccinated to get the jabs, especially with the new threat posed by the Omicron variant.
The country is still without an Omicron case, but Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had said that its entry into the Philippines is “not a matter of if, but of when.”

Vergeire stressed that the “real world effectiveness studies” of the vaccines are good, showing proof that inoculation is safe and prevents severe infections and even death among COVID-19 patients.

“We can see that in areas where vaccination coverage is high, there was a decline in COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions,” she said.