A Filipino healthcare worker who passed away recently died of COVID-19, and not from the coronavirus vaccine that he had received, the local Food and Drug Authority (FDA) and the Department of Health (DOH) said today.
In a joint statement released to the media, they said the person, whose death was reported on March 15, received the vaccine then subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. The frontliner’s case was investigated using the World Health Organization’s adverse event following immunization methodology, and the authorities concluded that it was the coronavirus that killed the medical worker.
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“COVID-19 vaccines cannot cause COVID,” they said. “The DOH and FDA emphasize that vaccines are only part of the solution in bringing the pandemic to an end.”
“Even with vaccines, people must continue with the important prevention measures already in place: wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing, washing hands frequently, and avoiding crowded places and settings,” it added.
The government did not say if the worker was vaccinated with CoronaVac or AstraZeneca, the two brands legally available in the Philippines. At least 600,000 CoronaVac doses had arrived from China and 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca were dispatched by the COVAX facility, and more are expected to be delivered in the coming weeks.
A few elderly Hong Kongers had died after receiving Sinovac’s drug, while there are fears that AstraZeneca causes blood clotting. Despite this, the Philippine government said that both vaccines are safe and continue to use them in its inoculation program.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID cases in Southeast Asia, with 635,698 recorded as of today including the 4,387 new cases added this afternoon.
