Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 11) — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday allayed COVID-19 immunization worries as the Dengvaxia controversy continues to threaten vaccine confidence in the country.
He said the level of transparency with the ongoing developments in COVID-19 vaccines is something that was missing during the making of Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. He cited that both positive and negative effects during COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials are reported by the companies, widely published by news outfits, and readily available online.
“Social media is replete with information, we’re bombarded. We never had that with Dengvaxia so the beauty of this is the whole world is a witness in the vaccine development programs of different countries… Mas transparent ngayon [It is more transparent now],” he said in a media briefing.
Duque is confident that the transparency in data will ease the public’s hesitancy towards vaccines.
“If there is transparency, that will inspire the public’s confidence to take the vaccine rather than doing it in an opaque manner,” he added.
The Department of Health previously said that vaccine hesitancy due to the Dengvaxia mess has caused a lower rate of immunization in the country.
Dengvaxia, the world’s first dengue vaccine, was launched in the Philippines in 2016 under the watch of then-Health Secretary Janette Garin. Over 800,000 children were inoculated in the school-based dengue immunization program. Sanofi Pasteur in November 2017 reported that Dengvaxia was found to be riskier for people not previously infected with the virus. Around 10 percent of the students who were immunized with Dengvaxia, but did not have a prior dengue infection, were put in danger of contracting a “severe disease.” This controversy prompted the Department of Health to stop its nationwide dengue immunization program and demand billions in pesos as a refund for the vaccines.
Amid the issue, Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Acosta drew flak for allegedly spreading “fake news” that led to the public’s decline in vaccine confidence and compliance causing a spike, not just in polio, but in measles cases.
Acosta prosecuted some former and current government officials — including Duque — after some children who received the Dengvaxia from 2016 to 2017 fell ill or died. Her group of forensic personnel claims that the dengue vaccine caused the death of the children. However, the DOH already disputed this and said no solid proof can link Dengvaxia to the fatalities.
