Vaccination curbs COVID-19 deaths in Baguio; No vaccine-related mortality

23 July 2021 – Vaccination played a big role in curbing the incidence of death caused by Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Baguio City.

According to the City Health Services Office under Dr. Rowena Galpo, there was also been no vaccination-related death recorded in the city so far.

City Epidemiologist Dr. Donnabel Panes said the death incidence decreased by 78 percent from April to June after the city rolled out its vaccination program for senior citizens or A2 in the vaccination priority list and persons with comorbidities (A3).

“When we were faced with the Alpha variant in March, we had a steep increase in our cases so that’s what variants can do; they can accelerate cases very rapidly which can upset our health care system,” Panes explained.

“The impact of the Alpha variant in March on our death record was also felt in April when we had our highest number of deaths at 87. But when we started our vaccination around the same time and we prioritized the A2s and the A3s, it went down to 17 or a 78 percent decrease from April to June.  So that’s what vaccine does on mortality rate,” she added.

Panes said more than half of the city’s cases belong to the 20 to 59 age group and only a small number comprises the senior citizens but they were the ones at high risk of dying from the disease based on records.

She said that of the 123,942 doses administered as of July 15, 2021, no mortality was recorded directly associated with vaccines.

As the status of the deaths in relation to vaccination, the CESU reported that of the 115 deaths aged 18 years old and above from April 19 to July 18, only four or 3.5 percent received the first dose while 1 or 0.9 percent received complete dose. 

A total of 110 or 96 percent were unvaccinated. – Aileen P. Refuerzo