COVID-19 vax gives ‘maximum protection’ two weeks after 2nd dose – FDA chief’s reminder

Workers belonging to the A4 category or economic frontliners get the CoronaVac jab at the Bagong Silang Elementary School in Caloocan City on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. The country started vaccination of its economic frontliners under the A4 priority group on June 7.- (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE  / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The “maximum protection” against COVID-19 only sets in two weeks after receiving the second dose of vaccine, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Eric Domingo reminded the public early Wednesday during the taped weekly Palace briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

According to Domingo, those who are fully vaccinated will only get mild symptoms and will need no hospitalization if they should still contract the disease.

“The maximum protection really sets in two weeks after the second dose. That’s where we see that the number of cases drastically goes down and that nobody dies from COVID,” Domingo said, speaking partly in Filipino.

Due to this, Domingo urged the public to get vaccinated and receive both doses of the vaccine.

“Between the first and the second dose, there’s still a need to observe health protocols because you’re still not fully protected after the first dose. There’s still a need for face masks, face shields, and social distancing,” Domingo said.

According to him, less than 1 percent of those vaccinated have experience adverse effects following their immunization.

“Of those who get adverse effects, they usually get something very mild — a headache, a bit of a fever, a painful arm. Moderate to severe adverse effects are very unusual,” Domingo said.

In the same briefing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said 2.8 million Filipinos had so far been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with over 11 million doses of vaccines administered.

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