The Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday there is no reason to suspend the government’s vaccination program following the death of a healthcare worker who received a COVID-19 vaccine.
According to Dr. Beverly Ho, concurrent Director IV of the DOH’s Health Promotion Bureau, the cause of death was COVID-19 and not related to the vaccination.
“It’s very clear from the report there’s no reason to suspend our vaccination program as, first, the vaccine was not what caused the death of our healthcare worker,” Ho insisted in an online briefing.
She further said the benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh the risks of getting COVID-19, particularly the severe type of the disease.
During the briefing, Dr. Rommel Lobo of the National Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee (NAEFIC) confirmed the fatality was a 47-year-old woman who had comorbidities including hypertension, diabetes and bronchial asthma.
“So the comorbidities present in this patient put her at risks for developing COVID-19 but it will not contribute to the death of the patient,” he clarified.
The patient underwent RT-PCR testing on February 22 and yielded positive results. She took another swab test on February 23 and the results came back negative.
The NAEFIC vice chairperson said the patient might have been exposed to an individual and she might have been incubating at the time that she was vaccinated on March 4 with the Sinovac’s Coronavac vaccine.
The healthcare worker tested positive again on March 8 but refused admission. She was admitted to the hospital on March 10, and died on March 13 of COVID-19 infection.
90-day period
The NAEFIC emphasized that vaccination is not recommended for those who just recently recovered from COVID-19 infection, as their antibody protection levels off only after three to four months. The priority must be given to individuals who don’t have any protection from the virus due to the limited supply of vaccines.
“Those who have recovered, maybe after three months or four months, they may now be a good candidate to be vaccinated primarily because their antibodies have already gone down from the natural infection. Remember the 90-day period should be counted when they recovered,” Lobo expounded.
Asked why the healthcare worker was given the vaccine without complying with the 90-day period, Lobo said the positive RT-PCR results could have been remnants of the patient’s previous infection.
“Remember that the patient had a previous COVID-19 infection in 2020. And then just this year, they did the determination. They said that it was a remnant of a previous infection. And she’s not anymore infective at that time,” he relayed.
Given what happened, the DOH stressed that there are no changes in the protocol and will not consider testing prior to vaccination as part of the screening process. Those who will receive the vaccine will have to answer the health declaration form.
“So the questions would actually include their possible exposure and their symptoms. So those who report symptoms or showing symptoms of COVID-19 are actually not recommended to be vaccinated and they’re actually requested to be sent home,” Ho pointed out.
Meanwhile, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo urged the public to continue complying with the minimum health standards even after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, as “there’s no protection during the first weeks.”
“It takes time. You have to give your body time to develop immunity and resistance against the COVID-19 virus after a vaccine is injected to your body,” he said.
As of March 16, 7,469 of the 240,297 individuals who received the Coronavirus vaccine, experienced adverse events following immunization. Of the number, 7,331 were non-serious, 137 serious, and one died. – Mark Fetalco
