MANILA – Secretary Francisco Duque III of the Department of Health (DOH) is pushing for the use of the second doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine as first jabs to healthcare workers.
Duque on Monday, said it is logical to use the other half of the donated 525,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses to be administered as first jabs to other doctors before it got expired. Said vaccine, according to him, has “short-shelf life”
The secretary further explained that the time interval needed between the first and second doses of AstraZeneca vaccine is 12 weeks or three months and the country could expect a new shipment by that time.
President Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, was receptive to the suggestions as he fears that the next batch for the second dose will be delayed but Duque assured it will not happen.
“According to the WHO (World Health Organization) country representative, he will write a letter to reassure us that the next batch will really come on time,” Duque told President Duterte.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. also supported Duque’s suggestion saying around 900,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are tentatively scheduled to arrive by March 22.
“Kung magkakaroon man po ng delay, baka po first week ng April at ako po sinabihan na rin ni (WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe) na mas maganda na magamit po ‘yong naunang 525,600 na doses,” Galvez said.
The country initially received around 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the WHO’s COVAX facility. The first doses have been included in the country’s vaccination rollout that started earlier this month./PN
