Vaccines not always the cause of adverse effects after inoculation, says expert

Adverse effects that follow immunization must not immediately be attributed to vaccines, a pediatric infectious disease expert said Wednesday.

“Hindi necessarily causal ang relationship. Hindi dahil lang sumunod sa bakuna ay galing na sa bakuna ‘yung naramdaman,” Dr. Anna Ong-Lim said the Laging Handa briefing.

Lim said some adverse effects may be caused by an illness contracted prior to vaccination but whose symptoms did not manifest until after a shot was administered.

“Ang tendency natin, siyempre, ‘yung huli nating naalala bago tayo may naramdaman ay ‘yung pagkakaturok. Siyempre, nasa isip natin, ‘Ay malamang do’n galing ‘yun,’” she said.

“Importanteng matukoy natin kung ‘yung nangyari matapos magpabakuna ay talagang nagmula do’n sa pagbabakuna or nagkataon lang sumabay do’n sa proseso,” she added.

Lim said the most serious adverse effect that health workers should watch out for is anaphylaxis or an extreme allergic reaction.

“Karaniwan kasi ‘yung binabantayan natin ay ‘yung matinding allergic reactions… ‘yung mga nahihirapang huminga, ‘yun ‘yung pinakasenyales,” she said.

Experts have repeatedly assured the public that such serious adverse reactions are rare. 

Lim said only people who develop severe allergic reactions to the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are advised against getting a second dose.

The rollout of vaccines in the Philippines, expected in mid-February, remains in limbo due to concerns on indemnification. 

Malacañang said there is still no definitive delivery date for the first batch of vaccines composed of 117,000 Pfizer-BioNTech doses. — RSJ, GMA News