The Food and Drug Administration has approved a recommendation to cut down the interval period between the last COVID-19 vaccine dose to the booster dose by three months, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
Under the new policy, boosters may already be given to ages 18 and above, at least three months after the second dose of a primary two-dose vaccine, or least two months after the primary single-dose vaccine is given, Duque said late Tuesday evening.
“We are exploring all possible options to safely mitigate the effects of more transmissible variants of COVID-19. The approval came at an opportune time as several countries also re-strategized in light of the Omicron and other COVID-19 variants that may emerge,” Duque said.
Duque underscored the importance of prioritizing vaccination among those who are yet to receive their COVID-19 vaccines.
“We call on our local government units to encourage their constituents to get vaccinated, especially the unvaccinated senior citizens and people with underlying medical conditions who are more vulnerable to having severe COVID-19,” Duque said.
“Ensuring enough coverage of the primary series while adhering to the minimum public health standards are crucial if we want to maintain low to minimal risk classification and have adequate health systems capacities especially during the holiday season,” he added.
He said operational guidelines have yet to be released.
Duque earlier called for inoculating individuals with booster doses within three months, saying it would confer higher protection.
Currently, fully-vaccinated individuals may get their booster shots after six months except for the Janssen vaccine which is after three months.
The country started administering booster shots to healthcare workers on November 17, while seniors and immunocompromised individuals started receiving boosters shots on November 22.
The government started administering booster shots to all fully vaccinated adults on December 3.
DOH spokesperson and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Wednesday there is enough vaccine supply for government to carry out the approved shorter gap for booster COVID-19 shots.
“We have received 150 million of the committed 200 million doses, so we actually have more than we need,” Vergeire said in an interview with Teleradyo.
She gave assurances that more supplies were expected, with about 25 million more doses set to arrive before the year ends.