By Carlos Manuel Eusoya

PHOTO: Collective Evolution

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director general Eric Domingo urged Filipinos to take their vaccine jabs, as he confirmed that the efficacy rate of CoViD-19 vaccines in preventing severe symptoms, hospitalizations, and deaths are retained against the Delta Variant.

“Basta po nabakunahan natin ang karamihan sa ating mga kababayan, we know that it will work because vaccination prevents CoViD-19 infection… Nape-prevent din po iyong severe illness at ang pagkamatay,” Domingo said.



According to Domingo, vaccines may have reduced protection against the symptomatic disease caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant, but vaccinated individuals are still protected from severe illness and death.

“Nakikita naman na kahit na bumababa nang kaunti [ang protection] sa Delta virus, ang protection nare-reduce nang kaunti against symptomatic disease... However, iyong protection against severe and death is retained,” he added.

Moreover, Domingo also presented a report from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), a CoViD-referral hospital with high exposure to the Delta variant.

“Iyong fully vaccinated ay hindi nagkaka-severe disease at hindi namamatay. Ang namatay ay partially vaccinated at unvaccinated,” Domingo explained.



The report showed that out of the 21 CoViD-19 patients admitted to PGH, there were two severe cases involving two unvaccinated individuals.

There were two critical cases and two deaths; both of which involved one unvaccinated patient and one partially vaccinated patient.

In addition, the vaccinated patients either had asymptomatic, mild, or moderate diseases only.
The Philippines currently has 216 cases and nine deaths caused by the Delta variant, as well as eight vaccines with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).


Report source: GMA News