THE Department of Health (DOH) logged 18,528 additional Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country on Sunday to 1,954,023.
There were also 17,922 recoveries and 101 deaths.
Of the total number of infections, 7.3 percent (143,221) are active, 91.0 percent (1,777,693) have recovered, and 1.69 percent (33,109) have died.
A total of 205 duplicates were removed from the total case count. Of these, 204 are recoveries.
Moreover, 38 cases previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.
All laboratories were operational on August 27, 2021 but seven laboratories were not able to submit their data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System.
Based on data in the last 14 days, the seven non-reporting labs contribute, on average, 2.7 percent of samples tested and 2.1 percent of positive individuals.
Vaccine efficacy
Meanwhile, the DOH reminded health-care professionals to be more responsible in their statements especially in the context of reported vaccine hesitancy in the country.
The DOH also urged Filipinos to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families against Covid-19, especially with the threat of the more transmissible Delta variant.
“We would like to remind healthcare professionals to be more mindful of their statements to the public regarding Covid-19 vaccines. Amidst an ongoing pandemic, one irresponsible statement is a fine line between life or death. Covid-19 vaccines offer additional protection against Covid-19 — vaccines save lives. I call on my fellow health-care professionals to work together to increase vaccine confidence in the country,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
Duque further cited data from 23 hospitals in NCR wherein 70 percent of patients admitted to hospitals were not vaccinated.
Moreover, data from the FDA shows that out of the 9 million fully vaccinated individuals only 0.0013 percent got Covid-19.
For his part, National Task Force (NTF) Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. maintained that all vaccines that were procured have the recommendation of the country’s Vaccine Expert Panel.
“While different vaccine types have different efficacy rates against the Delta variant, all of them including Sinovac are working and effective based on real world data,” he added.
Galvez cited the health conditions of Covid-19 patients currently admitted at the Philippine General Hospital as of August 26, which shows that the unvaccinated ones have a higher risk of developing severe symptoms.
He said that out of the 280 adult patients, 66 are in critical condition, and 55 of these are unvaccinated.
Among these critical Covid-19 patients, 21 are currently intubated and on life support systems, he said.
“While fully-vaccinated individuals can still get infected, none of them are intubated or on life support,” he added.
“This is real-world evidence from our hospital here in the country. Majority of Covid-19 admissions and critical patients are unvaccinated,” Galvez noted.
As of August 26, 2021, the Philippines has administered almost 32 million jabs and has fully vaccinated 13.5 million individuals.