Cop who fell ill after vaccination dies; tests positive for COVID-19

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A police officer died days after he received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

But it remains inconclusive if the 45-year-old officer of the Arevalo Police Station died from complications after getting inoculated, according to his direct superior Captain Chen Tañagras.

The deceased officer was one of the 350 members of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) who were inoculated with Sinovac’s CoronaVac on June 17.

The officer even reported to their police station after getting the COVID-19 jab.

On June 18, he helped clean up the Arevalo Police Station building which was undergoing renovation.

But Tañagras said she no longer saw him later that day.

The officer was the operation section chief of the station and a classmate of Tañagras.

When Tañagras called him up, he said that he immediately went home because he was not feeling well and had been sweating a lot.

“I told him nga wala problema nga nagpuli s’ya. Gin hambalan ko sya nga pahuway lang anay,” she said.

But come Monday, June 21, he still did not report for work.

By Tuesday, Tañagras said she got worried after he again did not show up for duty.

“His desk is just outside my office. So, his absence makes it conspicuous,” she said.

Tañagras said she sent text messages and called him up but got no answer.

“That’s quite unusual. I then asked our other personnel if he was able to call them,” she said.

Tañagras said she was later informed that he went for a check-up.

“My worries subsided. On the 24th, he even called his assistant about their pending works at the operations section,” she said.

But around 3 a.m. of June 25, the policeman’s wife told Tañagras that he asked to be assisted in using the comfort room.

The wife claimed that she let him sit on the sofa afterwards as she called for their adult child upstairs.

But when she came downstairs and checked on him, his pupils were already dilated.

They asked for a neighbor’s help in taking him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

He immediately underwent post-mortem swab test.

The result was released June 26 and was found to have contracted the virus. His body was cremated the same day.

Tañagras said she was informed that her personnel died from cardiac arrest.

They also learned that the deceased policeman was diabetic.

Currently, around 90 percent of Arevalo Police Station personnel have been vaccinated.

“So far, aside from him, we didn’t receive any report that someone got ill. I was also inoculated, and I didn’t feel anything,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) said it is monitoring if there are other personnel who complained of any adverse effect after getting vaccinated.

“There are those who reported of mild effects. But usually, these subside after one to two days,” according to Captain Shella Mae Sangrines, ICPO spokesperson.

Sangrines admitted that some of them have “concerns” because of misinformation they read and heard.

But majority claimed they were “sleepy” for two days since taking the vaccine.