DOH warns vs use of unregistered COVID-19 vaccines
MANILA, Philippines — No vaccine against the coronavirus disease has been approved yet, the Department of Health stressed Monday after two lawmakers were reported to have already been inoculated against COVID-19.
In a briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reminded the public that there is still no approved COVID-19 vaccine registered with the country’s Food and Drug Administration following reports that Sen. Panfilo Lacson and House of Representatives Majority Leader Martin Romuladez had allegedly received COVID-19 vaccine shots.
“Wala pang aprubadong bakuna na pwedeng gamitin sa ating bansa para sa COVID-19 kaya pinapaalalahan natin lahat ng ating kababayan na until there is registered vaccine from the FDA, doon tayo magkaroon dapat ng pag-access nito,” Vergeire said.
(There is no approved vaccine yet that can be used against COVID-19 in the Philippines. That’s why we’re reminding everyone that until there is a registered vaccine from the FDA, that’s the only time when we can have access to it.)
“Naiintindihan natin na talagang sabik tayong maka-receive ng vaccine dahil sa takot, dahil gusto nating matapos ang nangyayari sa sitwasyon natin. But this is not the right way to go,” she added.
(We understand that everyone is excited to receive vaccine shots because we are afraid, because we want this situation to end, but this is not the right way to go.)
Encouraging results from vaccine trials of pharmaceutical firms bolstered hopes that the world can return to some form of normalcy. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have already sought emergency use approval from US health after announcing its vaccine was 95% effective.
Moderna, another frontunner, said its vaccine was 94.5% effective. It is expected to apply EUA for its vaccine soon.
The DOH earlier urged the public to temper their vaccine hopes and advised the people to continue observing preventive health measures.
“Let’s be careful. We can only get access to COVID-19 vaccines once they are registered or once vaccine clinical trials start,” Vergeire said.
At least five pharmaceutical companies have expressed interest to conduct clinical trials for their candidate vaccines in the country. China's Sinovac is the closest to hold independent clinical evaluation in the Philippines after its application was endorsed to the FDA.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization-led Solidarity Trial is expected to start in December.
Warning to sellers
The department also issued a warning against companies manufacturing, supplying and distributing unregistered COVID-19 vaccines that they will face sanctions.
“Let us wait for the regulatory procedures to finish before you distribute vaccines because we are now talking about lives of people and public health should be protected,” Vergeire said.
The Philippines has so far recorded 418,818 COVID-19 cases, with 386,486 recoveries and 8,123 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Pharma giants Sanofi and GSK said on July 29, 2020, that they have agreed to supply Britain with up to 60 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers a vaccine candidate developed by France's Sanofi in partnership with the UK's GSK and is subject to a "final contract."
This thread collects some of the major developments in the search for a vaccine to ease the new coronavirus pandemic. (Main photo by AFP/Joel Saget)
As negotiations towards a new pandemic treaty pick up pace, observers warn of watered-down efforts to ensure equitable access to the medical products needed to battle future Covid-like threats.
Shaken by the pandemic, the World Health Organization's 194 member states are negotiating an international accord aimed at ensuring countries are better equipped to deal with the next catastrophe, or even prevent it altogether.
The process is still in the early stages, with the aim of reaching an agreement by May 2024.
But critics warn that revisions being made to the preliminary negotiating text are weakening the language -- notably in a key area aimed at preventing the rampant inequity seen in access to vaccines and other medical products during the Covid pandemic.
"I think it is a real step backwards," Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP. — AFP
Africa's first mRNA vaccine hub is ceremonially launched on Thursday to acclaim from the UN's global health chief, who hailed it as a historic shift to help poor countries gain access to life-saving jabs.
The facility was set up in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021 on the back of the success of revolutionary anti-Covid vaccines introduced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
"This precious project... will bring a paradigm shift in addressing the serious problem we faced, the equity problem, during the pandemic, so (that) it's not repeated again," World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a media briefing to mark the inauguration. — AFP
China has approved its first locally developed messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against Covid-19, its manufacturer said Wednesday, months after the relaxation of strict Covid-zero regulations sparked a surge in cases.
The vaccine, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, has been approved for "emergency use" by Beijing's health regulator, the company said in a statement.
It showed high efficacy in a trial in which it was used as a booster shot for people who have been given other types of vaccines, the company added, without offering further details. — AFP
COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax raises doubts about its ability to continue its business, announcing plans to cut spending after struggles in rolling out its coronavirus jab.
Shares of Novavax plummeted 25 percent in extended trading, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
While the firm should have enough money to fund operations, the situation is "subject to significant uncertainty," it says in a statement. — AFP
The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject says.
Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88% lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal.
That makes this natural immunity "at least as durable, if not more so" than two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, the study says.
The authors nevertheless emphasized that their findings should not discourage vaccination, which remains the safest way to get immunity. — AFP
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