Unused AstraZeneca jabs for seniors

For as long as they have completely vaccinated their A1, all unused or extra AstraZeneca vaccines, may be administered to our A2 or senior citizens

To maximize unused vaccines for healthcare workers, the Department of Health (DoH-7) in Central Visayas advised local government units to administer it to senior citizens.

DoH-7 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche announced this Monday after the towns of Balamban and Badian reportedly vaccinated senior citizens with AstraZeneca doses.

“For as long as they have completely vaccinated their A1, all unused or extra AstraZeneca vaccines, may be administered to our A2 or senior citizens,” Loreche said.

Balamban, a first-class municipality that borders Cebu City in the west, posted in its Facebook page that it has administered to 30 senior citizens the three unused vials of AstraZeneca.

Loreche said that each vial can vaccinate up to 10 persons.

Based on the latest data, Central Visayas has 558,912 senior citizens, who consented to receive the vaccines. This was issued by the Visayas Vaccination Operation Center as of April 8,2021.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has permitted the British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca to inoculate senior citizens in the country.

While FDA did not permit elderlies to be vaccinated with CoronaVac, manufactured by China pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech.