MANILA, Philippines — At least nine of the 119 cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in the country have been vaccinated against coronavirus and only had mild or asymptomatic infections, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH is still trying to complete the vaccination data of all the cases but so far, the agency has confirmed that four of them have received two doses of the vaccine while five have gotten one dose.
“Mayroong apat sa kanila na nakareceive ng two doses. Itong apat na Delta variant cases na ito, tatlo ay mild cases at ang isa ay asymptomatic. Mayroon ding lima sa Delta variant cases na nagkaroon ng one dose lang ng vaccine. Tatlo sa kanila ay mild cases, dalawa ay asymptomatic,” she told an online media briefing.
(Four of them have received two vaccine doses. Of this number, three are mild cases and one was asymptomatic. There were also five Delta variant cases that only had one vaccine dose. Three of them were mild and two are asymptomatic.)
Vergeire said this early data shows that vaccines still work even with the presence of variants of concern.
“Sa tingin ko, nagpapakita ang mga datos natin ngayon na kapag tayo ay bakunado, mas may laban tayo sa mga variants na ito,” she said.
(I think this data shows that if we are vaccinated, we have more chances against these variants.)
“Based on this, although we are saying na hindi pa naman kumpleto ang pag-aaral, nakikita natin na vaccines work. At kapag tiningnan natin ang number of infections sa hospitals, compared to before, bumaba talaga ang number ng healthcare workers na nagkakasakit, at ‘yung nagkakaroon ng sakit at na-o-ospital ay mga unvaccinated,” Vergeire added.
(Based on this data, although studies are not yet complete, we can see that vaccines work. If we will also look at data, the number of healthcare workers who get infected is now lower than before, and those getting sick and hospitalized are unvaccinated.)
The DOH also said that at least 24 of the Delta variant cases were not vaccinated against the new coronavirus and that at least two of the four deaths were not inoculated. The DOH is still verifying if the 63-year-old male seafarer from the MV Athens who also had the Delta variant and died on May 19 was vaccinated against the virus.
The department is still confirming the vaccination status of the 86 other cases.
Twelve of the 119 total Delta variant cases in the country remain active, according to the latest DOH report.