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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tocilizumab doses arriving end of September

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Some 10,000 vials of the drug tocilizumab, which is used to treat COVID-19 patients, are expected to arrive in the country by the end of September, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Saturday.

“By September, we hope before the month ends, one drug company could import 10,000 vials. Let's cross our fingers that the shipment will push through,” Duque said.

The country is facing supply shortage of tocilizumab, which was allowed as COVID-19 tocilizumab…treatment under a compassionate use permit by the Food and Drug Administration.

Duque said the DOH is coordinating with the ambassador of Switzerland for tocilizumab, which is manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.

As supplies remained tight, the Health chief said there were other drugs that could be used as substitute medication for COVID-19, such as baricitinib.

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“We can use baricitinib as a substitute drug while waiting for tocilizumab. This has the same effect and almost the same efficacy,” he added.

Tocilizumab has been recommended for COVID-19 treatment by the World Health Organization.

It belongs to the class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies that are used in the treatment of various diseases, including cancers.

WHO said it reduces the need for ventilators and medical oxygen.

Meanwhile, the country yesterday received 961,000 doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.

Of the total shipment, 712,800 doses will go to the national government while the rest will be released to the private sector.

According to Dr. Ted Herbosa, special adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19, most of the vaccine doses will be allocated to Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Cebu.

A small portion will be allocated to Metro Manila residents who will be receiving their second jabs of the Moderna vaccine.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the government is eyeing mandatory vaccination for all Filipinos, but the decision still depends on the vaccine supply and the passage of a law that would serve as its legal basis.

“We see that based on the data, 85 percent of Filipinos who test positive for COVID are unvaccinated, and majority if not all of the patients who are critical or are intubated are also unvaccinated,” Galvez said.

As of Friday, the government has fully vaccinated at least 17 million people. Some 40 million vaccine shots have been administered, of which over 22 million were first jabs.

The government aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people before the end of the year to achieve herd immunity.

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