All available AstraZeneca shots will now be used as first dose for healthcare workers
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte approved Friday the recommendation to use all available doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to be given as a first dose to frontline healthcare workers.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque floated the idea of using the 525,600 doses the Philippines received from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility to get more people vaccinated and address the problem posed by the shorter shelf life of the doses.
“The president has approved the request to utilize all onhand COVAX-donated AstraZeneca vaccine doses as first dose vaccination in order to protect a larger number of frontline healthcare workers in areas witnessing increased transmission,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said, quoting a memorandum from Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Duque and vaccination czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said at a meeting of the task force against COVID-19 on Monday that the second AstraZeneca vaccine dose can be administered within 12 weeks of the first dose and that new stocks of the vaccine would be available by then.
The country’s vaccination program has been criticized for its slow pace, with only 269,593 medical frontliners and health workers getting inoculated more than a month since it started.
The Philippines has one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia and is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent days. — Xave Gregorio
- Latest
- Trending
