5 Doctors Fully Vaccinated With SinoVac Suffer Severe COVID-19 In Manila

Five doctors who have been fully vaccinated with the Chinese-made SinoVac vaccine suffered severe COVID-19 in the Philippines.

These doctors, who were employed in different hospitals in Metro Manila, the country’s capital, were admitted after suffering from severe cases of breakthrough COVID-19, according to Dr. Rontgene Solante, the Philippines’ infectious diseases specialist and officer of the Philippine College of Physicians.

Solante refused to identify the five physicians who suffered breakthrough cases. However, he said that they were fully vaccinated with SinoVac, according to the Inquirer.

The new breakthrough infections come as the Philippines received two million additional doses of SinoVac vaccine as part of the 12 million doses procured by the government. The new batch of vaccines is expected to be sent to 151 highly urbanized cities in the country that are experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

As of Sept. 9, the Philippines fully vaccinated 16,138,934 million people, which accounts for 20.92% of the country’s target of 70% or 77.1 million people. More than 21.5 million also received the first dose, according to ABS-CBN News.

The new breakthrough cases also come after Filipino authorities, on Sept. 11, recorded 26,303 new confirmed COVID-19 infections, the highest the Philippines has recorded in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic. The Department of Health also said that the country now has a positivity rate of 27.6%.

The new record surpassed the 22,820 cases reported on Sept. 9, bringing the country’s overall number of cases to 2,206,021.

Authorities also reported 79 new deaths Saturday, taking the total death toll since the beginning of the pandemic to 34,978, according to Rappler.

Harry Roque, the presidential spokesperson, Friday indicated that Metro Manila would likely be placed under general community quarantine beginning Sept. 16 through Sept. 30 to curb the spread of the virus.

Under the new scheme, only health care workers, non-health personnel and overseas Filipino workers would not be under strict mobility restrictions. The local government units and the Department of Social Welfare and Development will also be tasked to provide assistance to households affected by the lockdown, according to the Manila Bulletin.