DOH: Ban on Dengvaxia vaccine stays
MANILA — The one-year ban on the controversial dengue vaccine Dengvaxia will not be lifted anytime soon, said Dr. Eric Domingo, Department of Health spokesperson.
Distribution of the vaccine was suspended in December 2017 after manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur said that vaccinating those without prior exposure to dengue potentially put them at risk of contracting dengue.
The ban was set to expire on December 29 this year.
“We still have a lot of pending issues with the vaccine, and at this time we do not see it being registered and being allowed for marketing in the Philippines,” Domingo said.
“Di lang iyan (it is not only) regulatory issues, but cases in court,” he added.
Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Acosta filed murder charges against officials of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) on December 3, for the acquisition of Dengvaxia vaccines without approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
The PAO directly linked the officials to deaths of children who took the vaccine. As early as February, Acosta had already linked the deaths of at least 39 children around the country to the vaccine despite not being a doctor and despite objections from forensics experts.
Raymundo Lo, a doctor named in the suit, denied signing the purchase order and rebuked Acosta and PAO’s forensic team leader Erwin Erfe’s conclusions linking Dengvaxia to the deaths.
Lo said Acosta’s timing was “obvious” and that she was trying to intimidate him after he testified in the House of Representatives, citing the “incompetence” of Erfe’s autopsies, which Lo said he performed “without any training.”
Parts of the country have been seeing a resurgence in measles — an infectious disease that is preventable with vaccination.
The DOH said in March that the Dengvaxia vaccine scare was "partly" to blame for the resurgence in measles cases.
Prior to Acosta's statement agreeing with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III — that the public should get vaccinated to avoid getting infected with measles — the health secretary said in April that the PAO chief made a "circus" out of the Dengvaxia issue