OF THE total number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) fatalities in the country, 93 percent were unvaccinated, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday, February 8, 2022.
Duque said 85 percent of those getting severely or critically ill due to the virus were also not vaccinated.
“So ‘yan po ang laking bagay pagka hindi bakunado, Mister President. Talagang they account for the biggest number or percentage of the total deaths and also for severe and critical cases,” Duque said in his report during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People Address on Monday evening, February 7, 2022.
Duque said that while they recorded an increase in the number of deaths amid the Omicron variant wave in January, there were still more fatalities during the surge caused by the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants over the last two years of the pandemic.
Of the total of 2,702 Omicron variant cases detected in the country, .22 percent got severely to critically ill while .33 percent had died.
Duque said the Alpha variant recorded a 6.94 percent case fatality rate, and Beta at 4.09 percent.
“Ganoon din sa ating severe and critical cases, .22 compared to 3.11 sa Delta; 2.41 sa Beta; and 1.86 sa Alpha,” he said.
“Noong Alpha, ito ay mababa pa ‘yung ating bakuna rito. In fact, pati sa Beta and Delta, tumataas na rin naman po noong mga bandang September -- August, September -- but nag-stabilize lang ‘yung ating supplies October ano po,” he added.
The Philippines started its Covid-19 vaccination in March 2021.
So far, 59,819,869 individuals have completed their vaccination in the country, while 60,659,350 have received their first dose. This includes children as young as 12 years old.
“So whether ang Omicron variant is inherently a milder virus, it is also possible that because of our higher vaccine trajectory is the reason -- one of the reasons why we are getting a much lower case fatality rate for Omicron and also our severe and critical cases,” he said.
This prompted Duterte to issue another warning against the unvaccinated individuals, urging them to get Covid-19 vaccination.
“Noon, sinabi namin; ngayon, sabihin ko ulit. Ewan ko ilang beses I have to say the statement of course with the -- a warning that you... Sa sitwasyon ngayon, we are not over the hump. Get the vaccines and include your children because it will ensure their health and life in the future. Importante talaga ang bakuna,” Duterte said.
“Ewan ko kung bakit may tao na nagre-resist, ayaw. I cannot understand ang utak ng mga tao na ito. But until people realize na kung nandiyan na, nasa ospital na. Lahat naman nasa ospital ngayon hindi bakunado. Ayan, ospital kaagad. I’m warning you, huwag kayong magkumpiyansa ka, sabihin mo wala na, hindi na kailangan ang bakuna. Well, when you die, I can, ‘pag namatay kayo at hindi kayo bakunado, well, sabihin ko sa iyo good riddance,” he added. (SunStar Philippines)