Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 15) — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday assured the public that the COVID-19 bivalent vaccines in the country are not expiring soon.
DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said the country’s first and only batch of bivalent shots, which were donated by Lithuania in June, are expiring in January 2024 — contrary to the previous statement of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa that its expiration date was \”extended\” from July to September.
Tayag explained the country is expecting more donations to pour in so the current batch of bivalent shots should ideally be used up first.
\”Nililinaw namin kung bakit pinauubos agad nang Agosto, sapagkat may napipinto po tayong tatanggapin na mga bakuna, mga donasyon din po ito,\” he said in a media briefing.
\”Sa January 2024 pa ang expiration date pero sa bilis ng paggamit ng nasabing bakuna ay ‘di na aabutin ng ilang linggo at mauubos na po iyon,\” he added.
[Translation: We are clarifying why we wanted the stock to be used by August. We expect that we will accept donations. The current batch will expire in January 2024, but we might finish it in a few weeks.]
The official also said 69% of the 390,000 bivalent shots that arrived in the country in June were administered already.
Original, bivalent shots effective vs. EG.5
Tayag also confirmed the Philippines has detected 12 cases of EG.5, a variant of interest quickly becoming dominant in the United States, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and China. He did not provide the location of patients and severity of cases.
Tayag said EG.5 is highly transmissible, but the original and bivalent vaccine — which reduces the risk of severe infection from the Omicron variant — remains effective.
The DOH official added the agency is monitoring the rise in the number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care.
\”Tinitingnan namin ang mga ospital kung saan nagkakaroon muli ng pagtaas ng kaso, lalo na sa kanilang ICU at kung mga pasyenteng nauuwi sa serious complication ang kanilang COVID-19 infection,\” he said.
