MILD ADVERSE EVENTS. Left photo shows Rose Elaine Abalo, a nurse at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, during her inoculation with the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 20, 2021. Right photo shows Abalo during her post-vaccination monitoring some 30 minutes later. (Photos courtesy of Elaine Abalo)
CEBU CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) in Region 7 or Central Visayas on Monday said there were reported side effects of AstraZeneca vaccines administered to healthcare workers (HCWs) but these have been mostly mild.
DOH-7 chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche said about six percent or 698 out of the 12,088 HCWs inoculated with the British-Swede vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) reported adverse events following immunization (AEFI).
The data showed that most of the complaints were fever, headache, increased blood pressure, muscle pain, and chilling.
“You see, all of them are still very mild adverse events that we have recorded based on the report from our vaccinees,” Loreche said during a briefing at the Visayas Vaccines Operations Center (VVOC) here.
She also noted 17 vaccinees administered with AstraZeneca who complained of pain at the vaccination site on the deltoid muscle.
Likewise, three experienced difficulty in breathing, and two others had palpitations.
Meanwhile, 406 medical workers refused to be inoculated with AstraZeneca and 415 others deferred their vaccination due to some concerns.
Rose Elaine Abalo, a nurse at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), said she did not experience any side effects or adverse reactions from the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“There is no pain upon administration of the vaccine. Ten minutes after receiving the first dose, there was a slight numbness in my deltoid muscle. I was in the monitoring area for about 30 minutes and all my vital signs are stable, no headache, no nausea, and vomiting,” Abalo said in sharing her experience via social media after she got the vaccine on Saturday.
The nurse said that upon reaching home after two hours from inoculation, she became “a bit worried” if she would experience chills and fever as what other people claimed after getting the vaccine, but said that she felt nothing and even washed her clothes.
She added that when she woke up the following day, she felt a slight pain in her deltoid muscle, but noted no inflammation.
Loreche, meanwhile, said the agency is determined to finish the inoculation of all HCWs in the region on Tuesday (March 23). (PNA)
