Philippines Covid-19 Vaccination Pharmacovigilance Hits a Grim Milestone of 100,114 Reports of Adverse Reaction Following Immunization (AEFI) on 15th May 2022

The weekly DOHFDA Report reports 100,114 AEFI; 7,982 serious and including 2,291 deaths (an increase of 52 over the 8th May Report). FDA concludes still no basis to revise vaccination recommendations.

International experts have estimated that AEFI Monitoring system are at best under reporting adverse events by a factor 41x. I suspect it is far far worse here in the Philippines. Many do not have knowledge or access to electronic resources to make a report. Many still refuse to make a report, even when offered help to do so. They are too tired, too upset, too concerned about repercussions! Maximum possible official injury / death claim related to C19 Vaccination is PHP100,000 (USD1,900) through a massively convoluted system. I have not yet heard of any successful claim.

Here is the latest FDA Philippines Pharmacovigilance Report reporting 148,332,745 doses of vaccines delivered and showing 100,114 AEFI, of which 7,982 are serious reactions including 2,291 deaths; 52 additional compared to the previous week. Considering the underreporting, the real numbers could be more than 100x higher.

There is no breakdown of the reported deaths by dose or booster, only by age group. Likely there is deletion (or correction?) of death numbers being reported in these FDA reports; I have noted one occasion with a week on week drop in reported deaths (6 cases) for the 60+ age group.

Local enthusiasm for taking these vaccines is no longer strong, despite relentless pushing by authorities. There are reports of door to door vaccine delivery to strongarm people still refusing into finally accepting in some provinces.

This is what the current vaccine uptake looks like; 532,358 new doses were given in the week between 9 and 15 May 22.

This is what the current AEFI reporting looks like. Note that there well may be a delay between occurrence of adverse reaction and it being reported (no data is provided on dates of AEFI), with 358 new reports in this reporting period.

This is what the current reported deaths look like, with 52 new reports from 9 to 15 May 2022. The reported deaths are not showing a trend of lowering or dropping along with with the reducing number of vaccines being delivered.

While the FDA claims that deaths are mostly unrelated, certainly the parties making the reports believe that the vaccines are related to the AEFI. Their lived experience should not be discounted.

Anyone who has experienced an adverse reaction, or relatives of anyone who has become ill and died unexpectedly following the vaccines should make a report to Philippines FDA. It is confidential. For deaths you need the vaccine card details, death certificate, and the hospital abstract, if any. For injuries the same, excluding the death certificate. Link here! Please report! It is critical to capture population data sequelae from these EUA products !

The FDA still conclude “These reports do not provide a basis for revising the current recommendations regarding the use of COVID-19 vaccines.”

So there is still nothing to see? Really? What number of deaths and AEFI will be counted as a signal or basis for action?