MANILA, Philippines — After falling short of its target to inoculate 1.8 million individuals in the last National Vaccination Days (NVD), the government is unlikely to mount another round of Bayanihan Bakunahan.
“We may not have another National Vaccination Days, instead we will focus on provinces that need help. We will pour resources there, not like a general approach for all,” National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) chair and Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said in Filipino during the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.
Cabotaje noted there are areas that have already achieved 70 percent vaccination rate among eligible population, including senior citizens.
She added that the national government would focus the vaccination activities by areas to enable those under Alert level 2 and Alert Level 1 to further de-escalate.
About 1.4 million doses were administered in the fourth round of the Bayanihan Bakunahan that ended last Saturday, according to Cabotaje.
But some local government units (LGUs) extended the vaccination program until yesterday.
Cabotaje said lack of sense of urgency and vaccine hesitancy, as well as bad weather, contributed to the slow vaccination rate.
Cabotaje remained hopeful that the government will still achieve its initial target of fully vaccinating 70 million individuals nationwide by the end of the month. To reach the 70 million target, Cabotaje said between one to two million individuals must be vaccinated each week until March 30.
No need
The DOH sees no need for the government to procure additional doses of China’s Sinovac vaccines for pediatric vaccination because both adults and children would be using the same formulation, the DOH said yesterday.
“The vaccines that will be used for pediatric inoculation has the same formulation for adults, not like the Pfizer that has a reformulated dose because of a concentrated spike protein. For Sinovac, the dose and formulation in adults will be given to children as well,” Cabotaje disclosed in a mix of English and Filipino.
“So, we do not need to buy additional Sinovac, we have enough on stock, we are just fixing the messaging so people can understand why the same will be given to adults and children for Sinovac while Pfizer is different. Our experts need to communicate better with our health workers,” she added.
Last March 11, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an amended emergency use authorization for the use of Sinovac among individuals aged six years and above. Sinovac is the third vaccine authorized for pediatric use, following Pfizer and Moderna.
Cabotaje noted that the government previously procured 20 million doses of Pfizer which will cover about 10 million out of the 15.5 million children aged five to 11 years.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the Health Technology Assessment Council is now undertaking a review and is expected to come out in two weeks with the necessary guidance on the use of Sinovac for pediatric vaccination.