Only 0.07% experienced mild effects after COVID-19 vaccination — DOH

Only 0.07% of individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 have experienced adverse events following immunization, according to the Department of Health.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 99.93% did not experience any AEFIs while the 0.07% experienced only mild side effects.

Vergeire said the top reactions were pain on the injection side, headaches or dizziness, rashes, body pain, and a temporary increase in heartbeat.

“Ang mga ito ay agaran din namang nawala. Kaya ano pa ba naman ang inaantay natin. Magpabakuna na po tayo sa lalong madaming panahon para maging protektado laban sa COVID-19,” she said.

(These all disappeared quickly. So what are we waiting for? Let us get vaccinated to get protection against COVID-19.)

As of May 16, more than 68.6 million have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which represents 76.3% of the target eligible population.

Meanwhile, 13.6 million have received their booster shot while 33,000 immunocompromised individuals have received their second booster shot.

Vergeire said around 40 million individuals are eligible for their booster shot.

“Para sa humigit kumulang na 40 million na ating kababayan, manatiling protektado laban sa virus lalo’t higit nariyan ang banta ng mga bagong variants,” she said.

(For our more than 40 million countrymen, let us stay protected against the virus especially amid the threat of these new variants.)

“In three to six months, maari na pong bumababa ang ating immunity kung hindi po tayo tatanggap ng ating booster shots. ‘Wag na po natin antayin ang pagtaas ng bilang ng mga kaso bago tayo magpabakuna,” she added.

(In three to six months, our immunity may wane if we don’t receive booster shots. Let’s not wait for cases to increase before we get inoculated.) — RSJ, GMA News