DAVAO CITY (MindaNews) – The Department of Health (DOH)-Davao reported on Monday that at least 3,765 individuals and seven others experienced minor side effects and serious reactions, respectively, after receiving COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Raquel D. Montejo, chief of the Local Health Support Division of DOH-Davao, revealed the data on “adverse events following COVID-19 immunization” (AEFI) during a virtual press briefing.
The minor side effects include pain in the injection site, fever, increase in blood pressure, skin rashes, muscle pain and fatigue while the serious cases had hypersensitivity reactions after inoculation, she said.
“We encourage other individuals to get vaccinated. Don’t worry because (it is normal to have) minor side effects,” she said.
Montejo said that there were 22 who died after vaccination, but she clarified that it’s not yet conclusive whether their deaths were caused by the anti-COVID-19 vaccines.
She said the Regional AEFI Committee, a body composed of different private medical practitioners in the region, has submitted the initial causality assessment to the National AEFI, which determines if the deaths are due to the vaccines.
The regional committee “shall primarily conduct the causality assessment of investigated AEFIs, review the status of safety surveillance, and provide expert recommendations to the Regional Vaccine Operations Center for the improvement of the immunization program,” according to Department Memorandum No. 2021-0099 issued February 23, 2021.
The cases of minor side effects comprised 0.008% of the 448,235 individuals who received the two doses, according to Montejo.
Montejo reported that as of August 22, there were 888,731 doses administered out of the 1,128,852 allocated for the first dose and 448,235 doses out of 974,808 allocated for the second dose.
Davao City reported 474,590 doses administered for the first dose and 280,228 for the second; Davao de Oro, 99,980 first and 31,570 second dose; Davao del Norte, 120,688 first and 56,842 second dose; Davao del Sur, 65,328 first and 34,819 second dose; Davao Occidental, 34,885 first and 14,605 second dose; and Davao Oriental, 118,279 first and 30,171 second dose.
Montejo reminded the public to continue practicing public health standards even after being fully vaccinated due to the risk of still getting infected by the virus. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
