Duque, Galvez dared to get COVID-19 vaccine first to boost confidence in shot
MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. were dared to be inoculated with the coronavirus vaccine first to boost the public’s confidence in the shot, which could be authorized for use by the first quarter of 2021.
“I’m challenging Secretary Galvez, Secretary Duque, once the vaccine is available, they should be the first to show that they have gotten the shot to encourage the public,” Senate health committee chairperson Christopher “Bong” Go said in Filipino during the Laging Handa briefing aired on state-run People’s Television.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier offered to get Gamaleya Institute’s Sputnik V shot in public, expressing confidence in the coronavirus vaccine candidate which has already been approved for use in Russia, despite criticism from experts that the shot’s development has been rushed.
But there may be no need for Filipinos to be further convinced to get inoculated against the coronavirus as a recent Social Weather Stations survey revealed that 66% of adult Filipinos were willing to take the shot.
The government is eyeing to vaccinate 60% to 70% of the entire population against the coronavirus in the hopes of achieving herd immunity, or the point wherein most of the population have acquired immunity against a disease that even the vulnerable would be protected.
These findings come amid fears that the memory of a botched dengue vaccination program from three years ago will further complicate the national effort to vaccinate Filipinos against a deadly and lingering pandemic.
Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said it might authorize leading coronavirus vaccine candidates for emergency use in January at the earliest if drugmakers developing the shots would apply for the regulatory approval anytime soon.
China is allowing the emergency use of vaccine candidates from Sinovac and Sinopharm. The United Kingdom gave emergency authorization to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, leaping ahead of the United States. Moderna, another vaccine frontrunner, also applied for emergency use from the US FDA.
Domingo said these four vaccine developers along with AstraZeneca might be the first to request emergency use in the Philippines.
If granted, an emergency authorization will only be valid within the duration of the public health emergency due to COVID-19. The FDA may also revisit or revoke the EUA “to protect the general public health and safety.”
With over 430,000 COVID-19 cases and 8,000 deaths, the Philippines is scrambling to obtain vaccine supplies to help end one of Southeast Asia’s worst outbreaks.
The country, through the efforts of around 30 private companies, has so far secured 2.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Astrazeneca. The British-Swedish developer said the average efficacy of its vaccine candidate was 70%.
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