More patients around the country can avail of the bivalent vaccines for COVID-19 as a result of the Department of Health’s (DOH) revision of its guidelines, according to a Manila Times news report. This developed as less than 50% of the initial batch of bivalent vaccines have been used on patients limited to health care workers and senior citizens.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Manila Times report. Some parts in boldface…
THE general population can now be administered with Covid-19 bivalent vaccine after the Department of Health (DoH) issued revised guidelines on the updated jab.
A bivalent vaccine protects against both the original virus that causes Covid-19 and the Omicron variants.
In a memorandum dated July 10 but was released to the public only this week, the DoH said those under the A3 group, meaning persons with comorbidities and compromised immunity, can now receive the Pfizer bivalent vaccine in hospitals and health facilities nationwide.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa added that the general public can also avail of bivalent vaccine, noting their decision stemmed from the slow consumption of the updated jab among the A1 (health care workers) and A2 (senior citizen) subgroups. He said only 38 percent of the 391,000 donated doses allotted for these groups were used.
“Because of that, we have decided to make it available to those who want to get vaccinated with the booster. We only decided on this last week as the uptake was slow,” Herbosa said in Filipino and English in a radio interview.
The government’s stock of donated bivalent vaccines are set to expire on July 31, with an extension date of August 30.
Herbosa said a person can only receive a bivalent vaccine four to six months after getting the second booster dose.
He added that the government is negotiating with the global Covax Facility for additional bivalent vaccine doses.
Pfizer, Herbosa said, has issued a certificate of product registration that would make the vaccine available in drugstores across the country, but the lack of local cold chain storage proves to be a hindrance.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Are there many people in your local community who have been wanting to get immunized with the bivalent vaccines?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
+++++
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco
Author Carlo Carrasco 