The country’s vaccine expert panel (VEP) has recommended the administration of the first booster dose against COVID-19 for children ages 12 to 17 years old as face-to-face classes start soon.
VEP chairperson Dr. Nina Gloriani said Thursday in a televised public briefing that the recommendation had already been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but the final decision would come from the Health Technology Assessment Council.
Earlier, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said about 9.1 million adolescents were fully vaccinated while some 1.5 million children ages 5 to 11 years old were fully vaccinated as of April 18.
Since the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines wanes over time, Gloriani said booster shots would provide an extra layer of protection, especially for those directly exposed to coronavirus.
The neutralizing antibodies of fully vaccinated individuals are expected to come back or increase five to seven days after the administration of a booster shot. For some people, it takes only two to three days, Gloriani said.
“As for those eligible for a second booster dose, it should be four months after the first [booster] dose,” she added.
The National Vaccination Operations Center said more than 66.9 million Filipinos were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 12,687,684 million have received their first booster shot as of April 18.
Gloriani said the VEP recommended a heterologous or different vaccine brand for the second booster.
“It doesn’t have to be the same vaccine brand as before. We’ll administer whatever is available in the local government unit or vaccination sites. We prefer heterologous boosters because we know it gives better protection,” she said.
The National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) had targeted to launch second booster shots on Wednesday, its head Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje had said.
“NVOC is ready, it has drafted its guidelines. Any time after that, maybe tomorrow or soon, it will be rolled out for those who are eligible,” Cabotaje said.
The Department of Health (DOH) logged on Wednesday some 365 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total to 3,683,732.
Active infections decreased to 17,863, the lowest since Jan. 1, when the country had 17,374 active cases, the DOH reported.
The top regions with cases in the past two weeks were the National Capital Region with 1,105 followed by Region IV-A with 438 and Region III with 327, the DOH reported.
More patients have recovered from the respiratory disease, taking the overall tally to 3,605,879.
The country’s death toll climbed to 59,990.
The latest data also showed that the Philippines’ bed occupancy rate rose to 17.3 percent from 16 percent on Tuesday.
The DOH said 5,568 beds were occupied, while 26,544 were vacant.
A total of 25,746 people were tested on Tuesday.
