DoH: AstraZeneca use may resume after review
The Philippines may still use the anti-coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca on Filipinos under 60 years old after a two-week review of local experts, the Department of Health (DoH) said Saturday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reiterated that the suspension is a “precautionary measure” and that AstraZeneca vaccinations would still push through if experts would recommend it.
The vaccine expert panel and the technical working group monitoring adverse effects would look into available data on the shot’s link to “very rare” blood clot cases among people within the age range, Vergeire said.
The study, the official noted, might be concluded in “about two weeks.”
“This is a temporary suspension,” Vergeire said.
“For this precautionary measure, maybe, it’s going to last about two weeks for us to have all of these recommendations. If these turn out positive, we will push through with vaccinating with AstraZeneca,” she added.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director general Eric Domingo said in a separate interview that the temporary suspension was necessary to enable vaccinators to study the brand’s possible adverse effects that would be explained to shot takers.
“We are just preparing the system so we know what to do when the second batch of vaccines arrive in the country,” Domingo told DZBB in an interview.
“The blood clot cases are very rare but we want to make sure that our vaccinators and vaccine recipients are well informed on the vaccine and its risks,” he added.
No worries
Those who have been given AstraZeneca shots need not worry about the ban, as vials for the second dose are estimated to come between May or June, and are covered by the prescribed intervals for the two-shot regimen, Vergeire said.
The Philippines has so far received 525,600 donated AstraZeneca doses from global vaccine-sharing pool COVAX Facility, all of which have been administered.
The next batch of vaccines were supposed to be shipped by COVAX last month, but it was postponed due to global supply issues.
The DoH and the FDA announced Thursday that it would temporarily stop giving AstraZeneca’s vaccine to those under 60 years old, even as they insisted that the Philippines has not reported blood clots after vaccination and that the benefits of Covid-19 shots outweigh the risk of side effects.
The announcement follows the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency to list blood clots as a “very rare” side effect of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which linked it to low platelets detected in some individuals who received the shot.
Out of 25 million people in Europe who were inoculated using AstraZeneca, 86 blood clot cases were recorded, 18 of which were fatal.
Earlier Saturday, Dr. Tony Leachon, former adviser to the government’s coronavirus task force, said authorities should think twice about suspending the use of AstraZeneca vaccines.
Business groups, which spent millions of pesos to secure about five million AstraZeneca doses, also slammed the decision.
Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, who led the private sector’s initiative on securing jabs from AstraZeneca, noted that the suspension may affect vaccine confidence among the public.
Over 922,000 have been vaccinated using shots from Sinovac and AstraZeneca since the Philippines began its vaccination drive, based on the latest data available from the health department.
Of these, more than 781,000 were health workers. The rest were senior citizens and people with underlying medical conditions, who belong to the A2 and A3 priority sectors for the state’s immunization drive.
The inoculation of economic frontliners and the poor might start next month.
Expedite procurement
Meanwhile, a group of financial executives has urged the government to expedite the acquisition of alternative vaccines in the light of the resurgence of the coronavirus cases in the country.
“Our health system is overwhelmed and our people are dying,” said lawyer Francisco Ed. Lim, president of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX).
Lim was reacting to the temporary suspension of AstraZeneca vaccine for people under the age of 60 due to some side effects that affected a certain percentage of those who have been inoculated with the serum.
“We respect the decision of the FDA but we urge that it acts swiftly in making a final decision as the data indicates that at least 87 percent of those infected with Covid 19 are under 60 years old. We trust that the FDA be guided by science in making this all-important decision,” Lim said in his statement.