The Cagayan de Oro local government and the Department of Health (DOH) Region 10 are investigating the death of a senior citizen who was vaccinated Wednesday morning.
A 73-year-old man died after receiving a vaccine against COVID-19.
He said he underwent an interview and check-up before being vaccinated with his first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a mall.
According to Dr. William Bernardo of the city’s logistics cluster, the victim complained of difficulty breathing minutes after being vaccinated.
He was immediately taken to JR Borja General Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Bernardo explained that the deceased senior citizen had comorbidities.
The vaccination was continued, as the senior was said to be ambulatory and did not appear to be ill.
In his daily COVID-19 update on Facebook, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno advised those with comorbidities to first check with their doctors before getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Last month, AstraZeneca vaccines have been discontinued for people aged 59 and under after it was reported abroad that those who had been vaccinated had experienced blood clots in certain parts of the body.
Senior in CDO dies minutes after receiving AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
However, it has been continued again after FDA said that the World Health Organization says the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its threats. There have been no cases of blood clots in the Philippines reported yet.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last month that over 2.45% or 24,698 out of more than 1 million Filipinos vaccinated against COVID-19 reported experiencing side effects or adverse event following immunization (AEFI).
FDA chief Eric Domingo said 17,654 AEFI received AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine while 7,044 received Sinovac’s CoronaVac.
A total of 24,330 cases were non-serious, 344 were serious reactions not involving death, and 24 cases involving death.
The most common reported side effects were fever, headache, pain at the vaccination site, muscle pains, and increased blood pressure.
Meanwhile, serious side effects of COVID-19 vaccine would require hospital admission, involves death or a life-threatening reaction, and causes significant disability or birth defects and fetal malformations.
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