MANILA— The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Saturday they are gathering data on fully vaccinated Filipinos who still got infected with COVID-19.

“Kino-collate namin over the weekend itong data natin and we will be presenting it next week. Nakita natin meron naman nagkaroon ng COVID even 2 weeks after the vaccination pero mga mild, walang grabe, walang naospital,” said FDA Director General Eric Domingo.

(We're collating it over the weekend and we will be presenting it next week. We observed that there were those who got infected with COVID even two weeks after the vaccination but these were mild, not serious and they did not need hospital care.)

Last week, around 350 health workers in Indonesia still caught COVID-19 despite being inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine by China's Sinovac.

• Sinovac still prevents severe COVID-19, says DOH amid Indonesia infections

The report caused many to doubt the efficacy of the Chinese-made vaccine.

“Kung babasahin natin ang report sa Indonesia, although meron ngang mga nagkasakit na fully vaccinated pero mild naman ang kanilang COVID-19 kaya nakita natin na meron pa rin siyang protection for severe disease at pagkamatay," he said.

"Hindi naman 100 percent ang efficacy ng mga vaccines, from the start sinabi naman natin 'yun kaya lang kung magkakasakit kayo most likely it will be something mild and manageable,” he said in an interview on TeleRadyo.

(If you read the report in Indonesia, the fully vaccinated who caught COVID-19 experienced mild symptoms, so they were still protected from severe disease and death. We said from the start that vaccines have no 100-percent efficacy but if you get sick, most likely it will be something mild and manageable.)

• All vaccines effective vs Delta variant despite varying efficacy rates, says FDA chief

Domingo, meanwhile, said that the vaccines that are currently used in the government’s vaccination program are effective against the highly contagious Delta variant, which ravaged India.

He said that so far, only Pfizer and AstraZeneca have data on the effectiveness of their respective vaccines against the Delta variant. Other vaccine developers are conducting their own studies, he said.

He said the vaccines are still effective but have decreasing efficacy against mutations like the Delta variant.

“Maganda pa rin coverage to prevent severe illness saka pagkamatay sa COVID-19,” he said.

(It can still prevent severe illness and death due to COVID-19.)

Based on data from the health department, the Philippines has recorded 17 Filipinos who have contracted the Delta variant. The country also has recorded 1,085 Alpha variant cases and 1,267 Beta variant cases.

The country aims to vaccinate at least 58 million individuals this year to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus. A total of 8,407,342 jabs have been administered nationwide as of Sunday, government said.