Covid vaccine-related deaths climb to 2,801

By Arlie O. Calalo, Manila Times

March 31, 2023 

A TOTAL of 2,801 Filipinos, 70 of them children, have died after they were inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine, according to a report by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A copy of FDA's "Reports of Suspected Adverse Reaction to Covid-19 Vaccines (01 March 2021 to 28 February 2023)," was obtained by The Manila Times.

According to the document, the mean or the average age of the fatal cases was 59.14, with 56.52 percent or 1, 583 of cases more than 60 years old.

It said 765 (27.31 percent) of the cases were 40 to 59 years old, and 359 (12.82 percent) were 18 to 39 years old.

The report said 53 cases (1.89 percent) were 12 to 17 years old, and 17 (0.61 percent) were 5 to 11 years old.

The age of the remaining 24 fatalities was not identified.

The FDA said the fatalities accounted for about 0.002 percent of the total vaccine doses administered.

It also said that "the reports of fatal outcomes do not necessarily mean that the vaccine caused the events."

In a previous interview, Public Attorney's Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta and PAO Forensics Division director Dr. Erwin Erfe had insisted that there must be a screening and clearance from doctors or specifically from pediatricians before an individual, who has comorbidities, is injected with a Covid-19 vaccine.

"Vaccine-related deaths could have been avoided," they said.

Rueda-Acosta and Erfe are providing legal assistance to a group of parents who have gone to court to question the legality of the government's vaccination program for minors.

Erfe has earlier argued before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court that the thousands of Covid-related deaths in the country were seriously alarming and that the government's vaccination for minors must not push through.

"It's normal that there are adverse effects for every vaccine, but these must not be serious and there must be no deaths unlike with Covid-19 vaccines," said Erfe, who is also a lawyer.

Judge Maria Cherell de Castro-Sansaet has scheduled the presentation of evidence by the respondents — former Health secretary Francisco Duque 3rd, Health Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire and the Department of Health Public Health Services Team — to the petition questioning the legality of vaccinating minors against Covid-19 on June 6 and June 27.

The Office of the Solicitor General is the respondents' counsel.

The petitioners are led by parents Girlie Samonte of Tondo, Manila, and Joel Corpuz of Cainta, Rizal.

Rueda-Acosta said the testimonies of at least four doctors, including Erfe, and former Biliran Rep. Glenn Chong, were enough to convince the court to stop the inoculation of minors.