(Eagle News) — The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption on Wednesday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to issue a proclamation declaring a state of national emergency following the administration of the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine to over 830,000 people.
In a letter received by the Office of the President on Wednesday, January 17, VACC president Dante Jimenez said that the declaration was warranted, given a variety of reasons.
For one, he said that “no less than about seven deaths exhumed and autopsied by the (Public Attorneys Office) as of today and 14 recorded by the (Department of Health) have been attributed” to the vaccine.
“The low number is only because of the tedious process of autopsy and the fact that there are only few volunteer doctors conducting such autopsies,” he said.
He added that “hundreds flock daily to the PAO and consult VACC officers daily relating to deaths and illnesses of their children who have been administered with the Dengvaxia vaccine,” and that there was a need to give “immediate treatment to all persons exposed to the vaccine in case they exhibit symptoms thereof.”
For this, he said Duterte’s proclamation should mandate the treatment, even by private hospitals, “of all persons given the said vaccine who exhibit symptoms of dengue,” and should allow the government to “do what may be necessary to save the lives of hundreds of thousands” who were given the vaccine.
“Worse, there are indications of widespread cover-up by certain doctors and public and private hospitals of the alleged causes of death of children who have received said vaccine upon the instigation of regional directors of the (DOH) who were involved in (its) anomalous purchase..,” Jimenez said.
As such, Jimenez said that the presidential proclamation should also include a provision that allows the government to “tak(e) over certain operations of private hospitals in Region 3, 4-A, National Capital Region and Region 7 in order to undertake measures to prevent deliberate misdeclaration of causes of death” due to Dengvaxia.
“All the above request (sic) is to forestall the possible chaos and restlessness of parents and guardians of children ages 9 to 14 who did not have dengue before the inoculation of (the) Dengvaxia vaccine starting March 2016 until October 2017,” Jimenez said.
Sanofi Pasteur, the Dengvaxia manufacturer, has admitted the vaccine could cause “severe cases” in those who have not had dengue before.
The vaccine was procured during then-President Benigno Aquino III’s administration.
It was administered to 830,000 schoolchildren under the government’s national immunization program.