Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 10) — Vaccine experts have recommended administering booster shots to medical frontliners exposed to COVID-19 patients six to eight months after they completed their vaccination.
Vaccine experts panel member Dr. Rontgene Solante on Friday told CNN Philippines’ New Day that there is no directive from the government yet that will allow booster shots.
“Ang finding namin dito sa booster is six to eight months from the time they received the second dose, iyon ang recommendation natin. Pero ang magde-decide pa rin niyan is the Department of Health,” he said.
[Translation: Our finding is that booster shots should be given six to eight months after they received their second dose, that’s our recommendation. But the final decision will come from the Department of Health.]
Last week, Health Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH was waiting for the recommendations from other members of the All Experts panel that guides the overall implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program of the country.
Food and Drug Administration chief Eric Domingo on Thursday said there was no proof yet that the efficacy of Sinovac — the country’s biggest vaccine supply — would wane after six months since it was only rolled out in the country last March. He added a clearer picture may be seen in the data that would come in October.
“Out of six to seven million, very low pa rin ang breakthrough and mortalities. Five months after, hindi convincing na may waning,” he noted.
[Translation: Out of the six to seven million people vaccinated with Sinovac, the breakthrough cases and mortalities remain very low. After five months, the data isn’t convincing that its efficacy is waning.]
The World Health Organization recently appealed to wealthy countries to refrain from administering COVID-19 booster shots for the rest of the year.
