DOH-7 probing woman’s death
VACCINATED VSMMC WORKER DIES DAYS AFTER
The Department of Health in Central Visayas is verifying reports about a 37-year-old janitress at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City who allegedly died days after receiving her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
“Currently, we are retrieving medical records and coordinating with the hospital. It is too early to connect the death to the vaccination. Rest assured that we will do diligent analysis and will conduct a thorough checking for this patient,” said DOH-7 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche.
Loreche said before the death could be linked to the vaccine used, causality will have to be established without doubt.
“We sympathize with the family. We also enjoin the public to keep an open mind and not to be afraid to have themselves vaccinated,” she said.
The FREEMAN tried to reach VSMMC hospital chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino for comment yesterday but he has yet to respond as of this writing.
CIRCUMSTANCES
According to neighbors and relatives, Sydney Rose Panimdim, a resident of Sitio Rattan, Barangay Tanke, Talisay City, allegedly experienced asthma attacks and rashes after getting the first dose back in March.
She got the second dose on April 9.
Panimdim had reportedly described to her neighbors and family that the second dose was “mas isog” or stronger than the first one.
After getting the second shot, she managed to report for work the following day but was unable to finish her shift and decided to go home, feeling ill.
On Sunday, April 11, Panimdim had another asthma episode. She was rushed to the Talisay City District Hospital where she eventually died.
Relatives Franco and Ofelia Bacalso said they have long known of Panimdim as asthmatic.
It was unclear as of this writing why Panimdim was allowed to receive the shots considering her condition.
In Central Visayas, the ongoing vaccination targets mainly the healthcare workers. Those with comorbidities or underlying medical conditions, as well as senior citizens, are next in line but health authorities have not given a definite schedule for them pending arrival of vaccine supplies.
So far, DOH-7 has rolled out the first and second doses of Sinovac and the first dose of AstraZeneca in Central Visayas.
Last week, the DOH suspended using the AstraZeneca for individuals below 60 years old while reports of rare adverse events like blood clots are being looked into by experts.
The FREEMAN tried to get a statement from Panimdim’s immediate family but her parents were not home yesterday as they were still busy preparing her wake.
Tanke, Talisay City barangay captain Nelson Cabanes said the barangay will investigate the allegations of Panimdim’s neighbors and relatives.
Cabanes, nonetheless, urged his constituents to maintain their calm, especially in light of the absence of a formal document indicating the real cause of Panimdim’s death.
VACCINATION NUMBERS
As of April 9, Loreche said, a total of 42,185 individuals in the region have been inoculated with the first dose of Sinovac and 9,874 have received its second dose.
Also, 29,897 individuals have received the first dose of AstraZeneca.
Based on the DOH-7 surveillance report as of 5 p.m. of April 9, a total of 1,895 minor adverse events following immunization were reported to the Vigiflow system.
A total of 1,849 minor adverse events following immunization were also reported from the first dose and 46 minor adverse events were reported from the second dose.
“No serious adverse events following immunization were (noted),” the report stated.
Those vaccinated with Sinovac reported vaccination site pain, elevated blood pressure, and headache as among the adverse events they experienced.
On the other hand, fever, headache, body malaise, vaccination site pain, and chills were the common adverse events experienced by healthcare workers who received AstraZeneca.