Authorities have yet to determine the cause of death of a Boholana caretaker who was found dead in Danao City, Cebu last week, three days after she purportedly got the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Danao City Police Station investigator Chief Master Sgt. Renante Manolat said an autopsy will be conducted on Marivic Jabonelo, 52, whose decomposing remains were discovered inside the Roble Compound in the city on Saturday last week.

“Para ma determine gyud nato ang cause of death, atong gi-request na ipa-autopsy…basin karong adlawa or ugma ba,” said Manolat.

Jabonelo was last seen alive by his supervisor, Alex Cayas, at the compound on February 16, after the latter purportedly got inoculated.

Her remains were found by Cagas inside a makeshift house at the compound where they worked.

“Kadtong nakadiskobre niya maoy head sa tanang caretaker diha sa compound kay dako-dako man na na area. Unya kini si Jabonelo wa na a makit-e unya wa na mo kobra aning iyang sweldo mao gi-verify adtong head, mao to nakit-an niya gahayang, unya nanimaho na kay gasugod na og kadugta,” said Manolat.

However, the police investigator clarified that they have yet to determine if Jabonelo had indeed received the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before she died.

Authorities were still trying to trace where she got inoculated.

“Atong pang ipa follow up og asa nagpabakuna ug naa bay card to prove og nagpa second dose ba gyud siya,” said Manolat.

Based on their initial probe, investigators did not find any indications of foul play behind Jabonelo’s death but have not ruled this out pending the autopsy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured that COVID-19 vaccines, like all vaccines, go through rigorous multi-stage testing process, including large clinical trials that involve tens of thousands of people.

These trials are specifically designed to identify any safety concerns, the WHO said.

“Billions of people have been safely vaccinated against COVID-19. All of the approved COVID-19 vaccines have been carefully tested and continue to be monitored,” the WHO said.

For its part, the Department of Health (DOH) has assured COVID-19 vaccines that are granted with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are “considered safe and effective based on the available evidence to date.”

“The fact that the COVID-19 vaccines are available for use less than a year since the virus was discovered was not because corners were cut in the conduct of the clinical trials,” the DOH said. (A. Doydora)