COVID-19 restrictions will not be lifted until at least 50 percent of the population has been vaccinated, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday.
“We also want the restrictions lifted since these have been affecting the jobs of our people, but we have to trust the doctors and the experts of the best way to address the virus,” Lorenzana said.
“Until we vaccinate 50 percent of our population, we will have restrictions, although not at the strictest level but at a level that will prevent the spread of the virus,” he added.
The Philippines has vaccinated 12 million people so far, but fewer than half of these have received the needed second dose.
Duterte warning: don’t sell vaccines
President Duterte renewed his warning against unscrupulous individuals illegally selling COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination slots.
“Again, this is a warning, and you know how it is, when you are caught, you are arrested, and you are detained, and you have to answer the charges in court,” Duterte said.
The President said he was alarmed upon learning of the illegal sale of COVID-19 vaccines by a health worker, who was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation.
It came a few weeks after reports of vaccination slots being peddled by some unscrupulous individuals in Mandaluyong City.
“This is very alarming. We condemn these acts, and we will not allow perpetrators to go unpunished,” he said. “I order every relevant authority to investigate this matter thoroughly and press charges accordingly.”
Only 10% of seniors have had 2 jabs
The Philippines has fully vaccinated less than a tenth of senior citizens against COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.
Dr. Nina Castillo-Carandang, a member of the DOH National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, noted that Filipino elderly are hesitant to get inoculated due to “fake news” about vaccines.
“We lack discussions and explanations. There is still a lot of misinformation and disinformation about the vaccine,” Carandang said.
“Gossip spreads faster than factual and scientific information about the vaccines,” she said.
Of the 8.27 million senior citizens that need to be vaccinated against COVID-19, only 736,519 or 8.90 percent have been fully inoculated against the disease, data from the DOH showed.
Mixing vaccines shows promise
Preliminary studies have shown that there is an increase in immunity against coronavirus disease in mixing and matching of COVID-19 jabs, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo said Wednesday.
“Preliminary studies in other countries are very encouraging,” Domingo said.
Domingo cited those studies are looking into Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines matching, with doses of mRNA vaccines such as those from Moderna and Pfizer.
Meanwhile, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization to the Department of Health to cover possible donations of the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.
Booster shots not needed yet–DOH
The DOH said on Wednesday that there is no need for the Philippines to procure COVID-19 booster shots at this time.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said booster shots are administered after the second dose of the vaccine as some COVID-19 vaccines only provide immunity for a short time.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said it was wrong for rich countries to start discussions on booster shots against COVID-19 when millions of people in poorer countries remain unvaccinated.
Wider gap between Sputnik doses okayed
The chief of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dr. Rolando Enrique Domingo said on Wednesday the Philippines will allow a 42-day interval between doses of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
However, this is still below the 90-day interval recommended by the vaccine manufacturer, the FDA said.
Domingo said the Gamaleya Institute’s request to widen the time interval between two vaccine doses to 90 days from 21 would have to be “re-evaluated” as the Russian vaccine maker submitted more data to support it.
“Our vaccine experts recommended a maximum dose interval of 42 days. No problem in delaying the second dose, but if we give it within 42 days, we have reason to believe that the results are going to be very good,” Domingo told a separate briefing.
Russian jabs delayed
The National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF) said on Wednesday the arrival of Sputnik V vaccines against COVID-19 would be delayed.
A total of 170,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines were originally scheduled to arrive Wednesday night.
However, the NTF said it “has been rescheduled to a later date.”
In a message sent to reporters, the government task force said the delivery of the jabs from Russia has been rescheduled to a later date.
The country was supposed to receive 120,000 Sputnik V doses as component I and 50,000 doses as component II.
Sinovac wants vaccine to cover children
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday said the Chinese company Sinovac has applied for an amendment to its emergency use authorization (EUA), so that its COVID-19 vaccine can be used on children ages 3 to 17.
FDA Director General Eric Domingo said vaccine experts are studying the matter and an FDA decision could be reached within the month.
“So, this is another potential vaccine that can be used for the pediatric age group. Our vaccine experts are now taking a look at the data and of course, asking questions to the proponents and getting more information,” Domingo said.