AMID mixed reactions to a new policy against disclosing what brands of COVID vaccines are being offered at vaccination sites, the Department of Health yesterday assured recipients they be will told what particular jab they will get prior to actual inoculation.
“Not announcing what brand will be available in inoculation sites will not take away the right of individuals to be informed of the vaccine they are taking,” the DOH also said in a statement.
It noted the vaccination process has several on-site steps, such as vaccine education, proper recording using vaccination cards, and monitoring for adverse events following immunization (AEFI), where adequate information will be provided.
“On-site, there is a patient education process, wherein we answer all questions regarding particular brands of vaccine to be used,” it said.
Some local government units (LGUs) are opposing the new policy which was announced by the DOH on Wednesday following incidents of crowding in vaccination sites that announced the availability of the vaccine made by the US firm Pfizer BioNTech.
The LGUs said the new policy will only give rise to public distrust in vaccines.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año yesterday ordered all LGUs not to announce the vaccine brands “to overcome brand preference.”
Año, a key member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, said while LGUs are not allowed to announce the vaccine brands in advance, the public should be informed on-site of the vaccine brand that they are about to receive.
“The person will be informed of the brand in the vaccination center and he will have to give his informed consent but if he refuses, he will have to go back to the back of the line,” Año said.
Año also said the country is racing against time to achieve herd immunity, thus people should be immediately vaccinated.
It was President Duterte who ordered the DOH to push for the non-disclosure of vaccine brands, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
“Si Presidente po ang nag-utos niyan dahil nakita nga po niya ‘yung kawalan ng social distancing doon sa ilang lugar kung saan in-announce ang pagbabakuna ng Pfizer (It was the President who ordered that because he saw the lack of social distancing in the areas where they announced vaccination using Pfizer),” he said in a briefing.
Roque reiterated the President’s call for the public not to be choosy and instead accept whatever brand is given.
The DOH asked LGUs not to use vaccine brands in promoting their vaccination activities.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said vaccine confidence “should be built on the stringent processes that lead to the vaccine development, local authorization, and recommended use of these vaccines, and definitely not by the brand.”
He added: “All vaccines available now in the country are safe, effective, and have been found to reduce risk of severe illness and prevent death after completing the required doses.”
Año said his directive to LGUs was meant to prevent mass gatherings and long lines that may occur if vaccine brands are announced in advance.
“We need to educate the people in order to overcome brand preference… They are all similarly situated. Our health experts have repeatedly said that there is none that is more effective than the other. All of them prevent hospitalization or critical illness from COVID.
That is what is important,” he said.
Año urged the public not to be choosy. He said they should take the vaccine that is in front of them “because it’s important that you are vaccinated today and not tomorrow or in the coming days.”
The country is expecting some 2.2 million doses of Pfizer from the World Health Organization-backed COVAX Facility before the end of May. It received an initial 193,000 doses early this month.
The President wants the Pfizer vaccines used on indigent people, Roque said.
“Ipinag-utos rin po ng Pangulo na ibigay ang Pfizer sa mga mahihirap or sa indigent population dahil iyan po ang patakaran ng COVAX. Dagdag ni Presidente, ilagay ang Pfizer hindi sa mga mall kung hindi sa vaccination sites ng mga barangays kung saan mababa ang take-up ng vaccines (The President ordered that the Pfizer vaccines be given to the poor or the indigent population because that is the guideline of the COVAX. The President also wants to use Pfizer in the vaccination sites in the barangays where there is low take up of vaccines instead of malls),” he said.
Roque said vaccines from COVAX will be used to inoculate those belonging to the A5 or indigent sector, apart from those belonging to A1 (health workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (with comorbidities).
Galvez, in his report to the President on Monday night, said COVAX already allowed the use of their vaccine on the poor sector.
COVAX earlier this year said the vaccines are for health workers, with the WHO warning the Philippines could lose its vaccine allocation under COVAX if it uses the vaccines outside the health workers group.
Galvez, during a briefing on Tuesday, said the vaccines form COVAX will be given to the poor sector or A5 while government-procured vaccines will be given to those belonging to the A4 sector, or government and economic frontliners.
He said the Cabinet approved the inoculation of A4 and A5 categories after this month, or when the vaccine supply becomes steady.
The government intends to complete the inoculation of 16.42 million individuals belonging to the A1 to A3 category by June and start the vaccination of the rest of the A4 category and the indigent sector (A5) by next month.
The country has received a total of 8.27 million doses of vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech, Russia’s Gamaleya, AstraZeneca Plc, and Pfizer since since February, including the 500,000 doses of CoronaVac from Sinovac that arrived yesterday.
Of the total, some 3.3 million jabs have been administered.
Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr., chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, advised the public to pre-register with their respective local government units (LGUs) before proceeding to a vaccination site for an orderly vaccination process.
Quirino Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua, president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, urged the public not to be brand conscious as all vaccines available in the country now have been found to be safe and effective.
Abalos and Cua defended the new policy of not announcing the vaccine brand.
Several senators expressed opposition to the new policy.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the problem lies with the government’s vaccine rollout and not on the “choice of vaccines.”
“Ayusin yung sistema nang hindi maulit yung pagsisiksikan (Government should fix the system to prevent overcrowding of people),” he said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said the policy will not work well “without vaccine advocacy.”
“We have to educate before we inoculate. Sadly, much still needs to be done in this area.
There is only one vaccine against fake news and that is truth told in a convincing manner,” Villanueva said.
He, however, said the biggest problem the government should address is not “brand rejection among the people, but vaccine hesitancy in general.”
Sen. Nancy Binay said: “In general, as far as the patient’s health and rights are concerned, the DOH has to put a high premium on informing those who are to be inoculated as to what type of vaccine, contraindications, side effects — and in this case — what brand of vaccine shall be administered, so that people would be aware if having that particular vaccine would merit some precautions on their part.” — With Jocelyn Montemayor, Victor Reyes, and Raymond Africa
