ROUGHLY one in 50 persons inoculated with a vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has reported adverse events following immunization (AEFI), the Department of Health Central Visayas (DOH 7) said Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
These AEFI cases were minor, said DOH 7 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche. There were no severe AEFI cases, she added.
As of March 30, Loreche said there were 1,389 AEFI cases out of the 62,695 vaccinees in the region based on VigiFlow, a management system for recording, processing and sharing reports on AEFI.
Around 70 percent, or 972 out of the 1,389 cases, involved female vaccinees. Most of the cases involved those in the 30 to 39 age group, both male and female.
Loreche said the most common AEFI cases among those who received the Sinovac vaccine involved vaccination site pain, headache, rashes, elevated blood pressure and fever.
Among those vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, Loreche said AEFI cases included fever, headache, body malaise, chills and muscle pain.
“So these are the adverse events, but so far, we have not received any reports of severe adverse events,” Loreche said during her daily press briefing on the vaccination program against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Loreche urged all vaccination units to report AEFI cases to VigiFlow.
She said only 72 facilities are reporting to VigiFlow. The others report to the Regional Vaccine Operations Center.
“It is our request to our facilities that you fill up the VigiFlow form so we can synchronize our data,” Loreche said.