MANILA, Philippines — Bivalent boosters should be administered at least four months after a person’s last COVID-19 jab, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
The DOH said an initial donation of at least 1.4 million doses of Pfizer bivalent vaccines would arrive in the country this month.
“These bivalent vaccines donated by the COVAX Facility can be received by people belonging to the priority group with four months interval,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a press briefing.
Vergeire said the COVAX Facility committed to deliver the bivalent vaccines in three to four weeks.
“Hopefully, the first batch of bivalent vaccines will be available this month so we can give this to our priority population,” Vergeire said.
The DOH said bivalent Pfizer vaccines would be administered first to health care workers, senior citizens and those with comorbidities.
“Since the vaccines would not be enough for the priority groups, we will be prioritizing the A1 and A2 population,” Vergeire said.
She said negotiations are still ongoing with the manufacturers of bivalent jabs Pfizer and Moderna for the procurement of more doses.
The DOH said two other COVID vaccine manufacturers have applied for certificate of product registration (CPR) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“These are Janssen and Astrazeneca. The FDA is evaluating their applications for CPR,” Vergeire said.
She said the CPR would allow manufacturers to supply COVID vaccines to the Philippines even with the lifting of the state of public health emergency due to the pandemic.
Pinoys keep face masks
Meanwhile, the DOH said Filipinos still opt to wear face masks to protect themselves from contracting the virus even if COVID cases continue to decrease.
Citing a survey conducted by a research firm, Vergeire said out of 2,400 respondents, 30 percent said they would continue wearing face masks six months after the declaration that the pandemic has ended.
Vergeire said at least 28 percent said they would still wear face masks one year after the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.
“This only shows that Filipinos still want to protect themselves and their family against COVID,” she said.
“So we leave it to our citizens to decide if they think that they need to wear masks or not,” she added.
Vergeire, however, advised members of the vulnerable population to continue wearing face masks, especially in crowded areas.
The DOH recorded an average of 119 COVID cases daily from Feb. 20 to 26.
The figure is seven percent lower than the number of cases posted from Feb. 13 to 19.