In his Manila Times column, retired army lieutenant general Antonio Parlade Jr. claims “more deaths are being reported among those vaccinated”
CLAIM: “More deaths are being reported among those vaccinated that some governments have stopped publishing the VAERS or the people would be alarmed.”
RATING: FALSE
In his Manila Times column published Friday, retired Philippine Army lieutenant general Antonio Parlade Jr. claims “more deaths are being reported among those vaccinated that some government have stopped publishing the VAERS or the people would be alarmed.”
He made this assertion without providing any factual basis to back up his claims.
The VAERS that Parlade mentioned in his column refers to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which is co-managed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The VAERS is used by healthcare providers to report any death after Covid-19 vaccination, even if it is unclear whether the vaccine was the cause of death.
Furthermore, the VAERS website has a disclaimer that says that the data in their reports may include incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable information since anyone can report adverse events to the system.
The Philippines’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in its Reports of Suspected Adverse Reaction to Covid-19 Vaccines covering the period of March 1 to Nov. 14, 2021, said that out of the 69,713,994 total doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered — resulting in 31,570,463 fully vaccinated and 10,169,165 partially vaccinated individuals — 74,955 (0.11%) were reported as suspected adverse reaction and 3,741 (0.005%) were suspected serious adverse reactions.
Adverse reactions experienced after vaccination are considered serious when it resulted in any of the following:
- in-patient hospitalization/prolongation of existing hospitalization
- significant disability/incapacity
- life-threatening situations (e.g. anaphylaxis) and death
- birth defect or congenital malformations
- a medically important event
It added that reports of fatal events are expected to rise as the government’s vaccination program covers more people including those with undiagnosed illnesses, underlying comorbidities, and pre-existing medical conditions.
During the same period, 1,455 fatal events were reported. However, the FDA said “Reports of fatal events [do] not necessarily mean that the vaccine caused the events. Underlying conditions or pre-existing medical conditions causing fatal events are usually coincidental on the use of the vaccine.”
The FDA report said those who died after getting vaccinated had pre-existing medical conditions like cardiovascular diseases, ischemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and infections including pneumonia.
The DOH has also released infographics debunking disinformation containing similar claims about Covid-19 vaccines causing deaths. These can be viewed clicking here, here and here.
The World Health Organization has also issued a statement on the safety of Covid vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the United States has said that reports of deaths after getting the Covid-19 vaccine were “rare,” or about 0.0022% of deaths among those vaccinated from Dec. 14, 2020 to Jan. 24, 2022.
Parlade’s claims in his column that Covid-19 vaccines caused the deaths of the vaccinated are FALSE. – Rommel F. Lopez
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