Data shows only 91 out of 5M fully vaccinated with Sinovac had breakthrough infections, while 24 of the 908K who got AZ caught the virus. One person who got Pfizer also contracted the virus.
No recorded breakthrough cases w/ Sputnik V, Moderna, Janssen. https://t.co/ItcQzPpwDU pic.twitter.com/JPVenJySij
— Lara Tan (@laratyan) August 13, 2021
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 13) — Out of the over 9.1 million individuals who have completed their COVID-19 vaccination in the country, only 116 or 0.001% had breakthrough infections, according to data from the Food and Drug Administration.
In the report presented by FDA Director General Eric Domingo on Friday, 88% of the 116 people who got infected 14 days after being fully vaccinated were either asymptomatic or showed mild symptoms. Only 11% were brought to the hospital.
As of August 1, the data showed 91 out of the 5.09 million individuals fully vaccinated with Sinovac caught the virus while 24 of the 908,000 who received AstraZeneca got breakthrough infections. One person who completed their Pfizer doses also contracted the virus.
Meanwhile, there were no recorded breakthrough infections with those who received Sputnik V, Moderna, and the single-dose Janssen.
However, the FDA is gathering more data on 22 people to check if they got infected after their first dose, less than 14 days after their second dose, or two weeks after being fully vaccinated.
A breakthrough infection is described by health officials as someone found with SARS-CoV-2 virus in their system 14 days after completing their single- or two-dose COVID-19 vaccine. It takes the body 14 days to significantly build antibodies after receiving the shots.
Domingo said an elderly man died of COVID-19 more than two weeks after getting his second Sinovac shot. He stressed that the man died because of the infection, not because of the vaccine.
Domingo explained that breakthrough infections can be expected because people build different levels of antibodies. He said all vaccines in the country — regardless of brand — are still proven effective against severe COVID-19 that could lead to hospitalization or death.
“We can safely say that the benefit of vaccination outweighs the risk pagdating sa pag-prevent ng COVID at pagkamatay [The benefits outweigh the risk when it comes to preventing hospitalizations and deaths]. The vaccines are effective and critical to control the pandemic,” he said in a media briefing.
This was supported by Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
“Sinabi natin noong umpisa pa lang na hindi niya kaya i-block ang transmission totally kaya tayo nagkakaroon ng impeksyon pa rin kahit bakunado na tayo,” she said. “Pero ang nakikita nating impeksyon among vaccinated individuals, most of these infections are mild and asymptomatic. Ibig sabihin gumagana ang bakuna.”
[Translation: We were transparent from the start that vaccines cannot completely block transmission so some people can still get infected even if they are vaccinated. Those vaccinated who got sick, we see that their infections are mild and asymptomatic, which means the vaccines are working.]
Over 12.28 million Filipinos or 17.19% of the country’s target population are already fully vaccinated, as of Friday.
