The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reminded vaccine recipients to strictly observe minimum health standards even after vaccination.
FDA data show that 439 Filipinos experienced breakthrough infections as of June 20, 371 of whom have been given their first dose and 68 were given their complete doses.
A total of 22 recipients died of COVID-19, pending the administration of their second dose.
“Nakita po natin totoo naman pong ilan na nagkaroon ng COVID after the first dose, pero pagkatapos po ng second dose, nakita rin natin na talagang yung nagkakaroon ng COVID ay kakaunting kaunti na lamang,” FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said.
Domingo added that the majority of those who received their second dose but were infected by COVID-19 only had mild symptoms and were not hospitalized.
The FDA said the benefits of approved vaccines still outweigh their potential risks, noting that the country has a 0.6% adverse event following immunization records which are “usually mild.”
Read more: FDA data: Below 1% adverse events reported since March vax rollout
In Indonesia, at least 10 out of more than 20 doctors who have died from COVID-19 this month had been fully vaccinated with CoronaVac. It also recently reported a record-breaking daily case toll due to Delta variant case surge.
In the Philippines, some 3.7 million individuals have received at least one dose of CoronaVac as of June 20. The National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 assured that all vaccines approved for use in the country have undergone “rigorous review” by top local vaccine experts.
This was after Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon earlier called on the government to purchase vaccines with reported higher efficacy amid the threat of new variants and the country’s access to other brands.
“We have seen that all vaccines that have been given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by our Food and Drug Administration are performing well in the real-world conditions compared to their clinical trial results,” NTF chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a statement. – Report from Mark Fetalco/AG-rir
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