FDA records only 0.1% adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination

MANILA, Philippines — There were only 76,837 reported adverse events following immunization, or 0.1% of the over 75 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the Philippines, the country’s drug regulator said Thursday.

A total of 75,600,808 doses have been administered as of November 21.

“The majority of [the suspected adverse events] are very mild,” Food and Drug Administration Eric Domingo said in a briefing.

Only 3,874 or 0.005% were reported as serious events.

Adverse reactions experienced after inoculations are considered serious if they result in life-threatening situation or require in-patient hospitalizations.

Among the most common side effects experienced by vaccine recipients are increase in blood pressure, fever, pain on the injection site, malaise, chills, muscle pains, dizziness and tireness, according to Domingo.

“All vaccines used in the national immunization program are safe and effective,” the FDA chief said. “Even if we’re still under emergency use authorization, we do have a very thorough review process.”

He added the majority of suspected adverse events were “actually not due to the vaccine itself and many were simply coincidental events.”

Officials have been urging Filipinos to report incidents of adverse reactions to vaccinators or the FDA. 

Over 34.19 million Filipinos have completed vaccination against COVID-19 since March, latest data showed. Meanwhile, 43.29 million people have received partial protection.