Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 7) — The Department of Health is not yet recommending the use of different COVID-19 vaccine brands for the first and second doses until there is solid evidence to support that option.
A member of the government’s Vaccine Expert Panel earlier suggested that Sinopharm and Sinovac doses can be mixed if there are supply issues, but the DOH on Friday said it’s too early to make that recommendation so the current protocol to stick to one brand remains.
“Sa ngayon, ang ating protocol, single brand muna tayo. Wala pa pong scientific evidence to state that we can already mix brands,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.
[Translation: For now our protocol is to use a single brand. There is no scientific evidence that states we can mix brands.]
Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte can opt to get Sinovac for his second dose after he ordered the return of all shots of Sinopharm — which he had as first dose — pending emergency use approval. He said this is possible because both brands are inactivated vaccines.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said they will keep Duterte’s second Sinopharm dose so he can still complete his vaccination. But for those who also received Sinopharm through the compassionate special permit, it remains unknown which brand they can receive for their second dose.
The Vaccine Expert Panel under the Department of Science and Technology is studying the possibility of mixing-and-matching different vaccine brands. There is an ongoing major trial in the United Kingdom to examine whether different coronavirus vaccines can safely be used for two-dose regimens.
