LESS than one in every 100 doses of COVID-19 administered have resulted in adverse effects following immunization (AEFIs), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
In a televised public briefing, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said this is based on the agency’s record as of July 4.
“As of now, based on our AEFI reporting system, we have captured adverse effects after getting vaccinated that are less than 1 percent,” said Domingo.
Add to this, he said, is that majority of the AEFIs reported are those that are considered as non-serious.
“Many of the complaints and reactions are only mild,” said Domingo.
FDA data shows that out of the 11,708,029 doses administered, 47,897 adverse events were reported, or 0.41 percent.
Of the total AEFIs, there were 46,826 non-serious events (97.76%), and 1,071 serious events (2.23%).
Broken down per vaccine brand, AstraZeneca had the most AEFIs reported with 27,529 reports out of the 2,657,656 shots administered or 1.03 percent.
Second is Sputnik V with 551 AEFIs out of the 127,662 doses administered or 0.43 percent.
Sinovac’s CoronaVac had the third highest AEFI rate with 0.24 percent after recording 18,779 AEFIs out of the 7,765,513 doses administered.
Ranked fourth is the vaccine of Pfizer-BioNTech with 0.09 percent after seeing 1,038 AEFIs out of the 1,132,995 doses administered.
Moderna’s vaccine, on the other hand, has had zero AEFIs reported so far after 24,203 doses were administered.
More Filipinos are now willing to be vaccinated as 45 percent of the population, up from 32 percent in May, said they are willing to be inoculated against COVID-19, the June 23 to 26 survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS) showed.
The SWS survey came days after Pulse Asia released its June 7 to 16 survey results that showed that 75 percent of Filipinos believe that everyone should be vaccinated against COVID-19, but only 43 percent are actually willing to be inoculated up from 16 percent in February 2020.
The SWS survey, which involved 1,200 adult respondents and had a sampling margin of error of ±3 percent, also showed that 24 percent of the population (down from 36 percent) are still uncertain if they will be vaccinated, while 21 percent (down from 33 percent) said they are unwilling.
The SWS said 7 percent of the respondents have also already received their first dose while 3 percent have completed the two doses.
Willingness to be vaccinated was highest in Metro Manila with 49 percent followed by Luzon with 46 percent, the Visayas with 41 percent and Mindanao with 42 percent while unwillingness was highest in the Visayas with 31 percent followed by Mindanao with 23 percent, Luzon with 20 percent and Metro Manila with 8 percent.
SWS said the vaccination was also highest in Metro Manila with 21 percent followed by Luzon and the Visayas with 5 percent each and Mindanao with 3 percent.
Those who already received their second dose of the vaccine was also highest in Metro Manila with 5 percent followed by Mindanao and Luzon with 3 percent each and the Visayas with 1 percent.
SWS said willingness to get vaccinated was also highest among the college graduates (53 percent) followed by junior high school graduates (49 percent), elementary graduates (41 percent) and non-elementary graduates (23 percent), while unwillingness to be vaccinated was highest among non-elementary graduates (50 percent), elementary graduates (29 percent), junior high school graduates (14 percent), and college graduates(13 percent).
The FDA said the benefits of getting inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen still outweigh potential risks of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).
GBS is a rare medical condition, wherein the body’s immune system attacks nerve cells, and may cause muscle weakness and paralysis.
According to Domingo, the chances of contracting GBS associated with Janssen vaccine is “very, very rare” that it should not stop people from receiving the vaccine.
“It was seen in 1 for every 100,000 vaccinated individuals. Among the unvaccinated, chances of GBS is also one for every 100,000. But in the Philippines, five in every 100,000 are infected by COVID-19 on a daily basis,” said Domingo.
“It is so rare that all regulatory agencies continue to believe that the benefits still outweigh the risks,” he added.
Nevertheless, the FDA will closely monitor incidents of GBS, when the time Janssen vaccines are used.
“Whenever you feel anything even after six months to one year, you should report them so we can evaluate if it is connected to the vaccines,” said Domingo.
Earlier, the United States FDA added a warning about the potential risk of developing GBS to its fact sheet about the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
The country received another one million doses of vaccines from the Chinese firm Sinovac.
National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. Said the shipment which arrives yesterday will used mostly as second dose for vaccinees in the National Capital Region plus eight area (NCR+8).
Another 1.5 million is expected to be delivered on July 17, which will mostly go to the high-priority areas such as provinces and cities with high numbers COVID-19 cases such as those in Region III (Central Luzon), Region IV-A (Calabarzon), Region VI (Western Visayas), Region VII (Central Visayas), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
At least 7.5 million doses of Sinovac vaccines are expected to be delivered this month.
Galvez said with the delivery of more vaccines from Sinovac and the companies, the public can expect a more equitable distribution of the vaccines.
The country has received at least 21 million doses of vaccines as of July 14, with 13.8 million already administered.
A total of 3.88 million persons have been fully vaccinated, or given two doses) as of July 13.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the government expects the number of people vaccinated in the country to breach 15 million this week after the daily jabs reached 375,059 on July 13.
The government targets to vaccinate at least 40 million to 50 million with the first dose by November, but its main goal is to inoculate 500,000 to 740,000 people a day to be able to vaccinate 50 million to 70 million and reach herd immunity by the end of the year. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Reuters
