DOH: PhilHealth ID number not required for COVID-19 vaccination
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos are not required to have an identification number issued by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to receive COVID-19 shots, the Department of Health said.
The DOH issued the clarification Tuesday after the state health insurer urged the public to know and have their PhilHealth Identification Number (PIN) ready “to avoid delays and problems during vaccination.”
“The Department of Health clarifies that PIN is not a requirement to register for and receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and is only required when claiming benefits in cases of adverse events following immunization (AEFI),” the DOH said.
AEFI refers to any untoward medical occurrence which follows vaccination and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the use of vaccine.
To ensure coverage of non-PhilHealth members who experience serious side effects, the DOH will set up registration booths at official vaccination sites.
Memorandum 2021-0999 of the DOH states that “all potential vaccine recipient shall be registered using their unique identifiers as identified during the masterlisting process such as but not limited to full name and birthday, PhilHealth Identification Number, system generated alphanumeric or QR or unique codes, or similar.”
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. also said those who will receive vaccines can present any ID.
“They can use all their IDs and we saw that PhilSys is also mobilizing its units to catch up with our vaccination program. There will be no problem for as long as there is pre-screening and pre-listing so we can validate if they are from the area. They can also use office IDs,” Galvez said in a briefing Tuesday.
The DOH also stressed that all Filipinos are automatic members of PhilHealth, regardless if they are direct or indirect contributors, under the Universal Health Care Law.
Some 650,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 almost a month since the start of the government’s vaccination program. The government is aiming to inoculate up to 70 million this year alone.
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
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