60% of PGH COVID-19 patients unvaxxed

INSIDE THE COVID WARD Health-care workers remain busy at a dedicated facility of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). —RICHARD A. REYES/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — More than half, or 60 percent, of patients recently admitted for COVID-19 at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), the country’s main referral hospital for the severe respiratory disease, were unvaccinated.

According to the April 19 data from the PGH, 16 individuals out of the 27 hospitalized for COVID-19 were not inoculated. Of the 16, 12 were admitted in the wards and four in the intensive care unit (ICU).

According to Dr. Evalyn Roxas, infectious disease consultant at PGH, all COVID-19 patients outside the ICU are currently in the government-run hospital’s charity wards.

The PGH data showed that 11 of the 27 patients have completed their vaccination but only one had received a booster shot.

Of the fully vaccinated, nine were admitted in the wards and two in the ICU.

Significant drop

The current admissions at PGH were a significant drop from when the hospital operated at near capacity, with admissions as high as 345 on Jan. 17.

According to PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario, the hospital has been allocating 350 beds for COVID-19 cases during surges.

COVID-19 admissions gradually went down to 308 on Jan. 30 and to 185 on Feb. 28. These progressively dropped to double digits starting at 99 on March 2. That was also when the PGH reported zero infections among its health-care workers.

The latest data from the Department of Health showed that the majority of COVID-19 admissions nationwide were mild and moderate, accounting for about 69 percent of the cases as of April 16.

Severe and critical infections were 11.6 percent of total hospitalizations.

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