HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday said government will immediately deploy the 2 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines given by the COVAX Facility, considering these are expiring in June and July.
“The 1.5 million jabs expiring in June will all be used as first dose. That way, we will be able to use all of these earlier than the expiry dates,” said Duque.
He said the remaining 500,000 doses expiring in July will be used as second doses for those vaccinated in March and April.
AstraZeneca vaccines are given in two doses, four to 12 weeks apart.
“We will make sure nothing will expire. It will all be jabbed,” Duque said.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said the DOH has coordinated with local government units regarding the use of the expiring AstraZeneca vaccines.
Among them, she said, are Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga cities, where local government officials have been asking for additional allocation.
“We got their commitment through our regional offices. We talked to their local governments regarding the immediate use of these vaccines,” she said.
“They are needing more vaccines, and I’m sure they will adjust their strategies in order to provide the needed number of jabs,” she added.
The Department of Health has recommended the cutting short of the interval between first and second doses of the expiring AstraZeneca vaccines.
Vaccine experts’ panel head Nina Gloriani assured the public that the AstraZeneca vaccine remains safe and effective even if the period between the first and second doses is shortened to a month from three months.
Gloriani, during the “Laging Handa” briefing, said while the vaccine would produce more antibodies if the interval is longer, there are already enough antibodies available if the period is shortened to four weeks or one month.
She added that the antibody produced, in addition to the vaccine, would also contribute to the level of antibodies produced by the persons who received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Philippines received the third tranche of two million doses from AstraZeneca last week.
It received the first tranche of 487,200 doses and second tranche of 38,400 doses in March.
The country has so far received 7.571 million doses of vaccines since February and already inoculated 2.4 million Filipinos.
The country is expected to receive 15,000 doses of the Sputnik V from the Gamaleya Research Institute on Wednesday night, the second component or “follow up dose” to the first 15,000 doses that the country received last May 1.
The Philippines is expecting to receive a total of 2.5 million doses of Gamaleya this month including the 500,000 that was supposed to be delivered in April.
The country is buying 20 million doses of vaccine from Gamaleya. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
