DOH bares major strides in vaccination drive
THE Department of Health (DOH) reported on Wednesday that a total of 1,562,563 vaccine doses have been administered already in 3,263 vaccination sites in various sites in 17 regions of the country.
As of 20 April 2021, 100 percent of the available doses have been distributed, equating to 3,025,600 out of 3,025,600.
The DOH said that 76 percent of the 1,780,400 allocated first doses have already been administered, equating to 1,353,107 administered doses.
Likewise, 12 percent of the 1,780,400 allocated second doses have already been administered, equating to 209,456 administered doses.
Janssen and Covaxin
THE DOH also said that the emergency use authority (EUA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Janssen and Covaxin would help widen the country’s vaccine portfolio.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also allayed fears on the reportedbloodclotslinkedtothevaccines. Thissideeffectwasreportedlyidentified aftertheadministrationofastrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen jabs.
“These report of blood clotting events [linked to Astrazeneca and Janssen] are still being studied thoroughly by the experts,” Vergeire said, adding that those reported blood clots are “very, very rare” side effect.
“This is according to the experts, the EMA [European Medicines Agency],
and the CDC [United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]... even the World Health Organization came out with a statement that is why we are pursuing vaccinations using these vaccines,” she added.
Forjansseninparticular,vergeiresaid that they need to train health-care workers for them to easily recognize “these kinds of adverse effects among our citizens who will be vaccinated “for us just to be on the safe side.”
These report of blood clotting events [linked to Astrazeneca and Janssen] are still being studied thoroughly by the experts.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire