DOH-7 to use 30T Astra doses before vaccines expire in May

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH)-7 is set to administer all 3,000 vials or 30,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to all its intended recipients in Region 7 before the vaccines expire on May 31, 2021.

Central Visayas received the vaccines on March 10, 2021.

“There is a cascaded instruction to us in Region-7 to pull out the second dose nga allocated for AstraZeneca not because of any problem with the vaccine but because it is going to expire on May 31, 2021,” said Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist and spokesperson of DOH-7.

“So, kinahanglan ato na ning ihatag tanan. Meaning to say, we will not save anymore and store for the second dose so that we will be able to distribute the AstraZeneca before its expiry date,” Loreche said.

She said healthcare workers at Temporary Treatment Monitoring Facilities, Emergency Operation Centers, and Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices have yet to receive their first dose of the vaccine.

Several hospitals have given AstraZeneca vaccines to 563 healthcare workers as of March 16, 2021. Up to 30,000 healthcare workers are targeted to be vaccinated with the first dose.

Loreche said pulling out the AstraZeneca vaccines should not be a cause for panic or worry as the second dose of AstraZeneca will arrive in time for the second dose to be administered.

“We are assured that the second dose for those that were given AstraZeneca will also be here in time for the second dose,” Loreche said.

She said the ideal time in giving the second dose for AstraZeneca ranges from six weeks to 12 weeks.

“But I am actually recommending that the second dose be given on the first week so that the immunity can kick off already and to give your body or immune system the time to be able to recharge nga ang paghatag sa second dose sa iyaha nga okay na to kick-off the second part of the immunity,” she said.

Loreche also allayed fears about the vaccine.

She said the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, and the European Medical Association stand by the results of the studies of the clinical trials that AstraZeneca is a safe and effective vaccine.

She said the benefits far outweigh the very small amount of those that may develop a secondary problem relative to the vaccine.

“Remember, wala pa tay casuality. We have to wait for that before we even jump into a bandwagon and say nga dili ta magpabakuna niini. The government, with all our experts, is making sure that we are given a very safe and effective vaccine,” she said.

Meanwhile, the 77,160 doses of Sinovac vaccines that were received by DOH-7 since March 2, 2021 will expire on January 13, 2024.

As of March 16, 2021, at least 20 hospitals have already administered the first dose of Sinovac to 13,835 healthcare workers.

DOH-7 targets to vaccinate 54,640 healthcare workers but Loreche is optimistic this number would still increase as the vaccination program progresses.

After health care workers, DOH-7 targets to vaccinate 771,468 senior citizens who are vulnerable to the disease.

Cebu City health workers

In Cebu City, the city’s health officer, Jeffrey Ibones, said none of the 10,164 health care workers from both public and private hospitals have experienced major side effects after getting vaccinated with either Sinovac or AstraZeneca, at least as of yesterday, March 17.

Also, only 49 refused to be vaccinated while vaccination of 166 workers were deferred as they have pre-existing health conditions on the day of the vaccination.

“Nag-second round na ta sa vaccine sa hospitals nato sa Cebu City, both public and private hospitals from level 3, 2, and 1,” Ibones said.

Before March ends, the city plans to vaccinate health workers at private clinics, private lying-in, clinics at schools and companies, as well as those in the barangays.

“Our vaccinators, gi-orient na para sa possible start sa rollout,” Ibones said.

There are at least 16,000 health care workers in the city, 1,000 of these are barangay health workers.

“Maayo unta ang tanan ma-vaccine-an, pero kahibawo ta nga naa say uban nga dili magpa-vaccine sad,” he said.

Ibones said the number of BHWs to be vaccinated will depend on the vaccine allocation from DOH-7.

“Kung naa lang gyud ta’y daghan nga vaccine nga maabot, hopefully, ato gyud silang ma-vaccinan, depende sad og mosugot sad sila,” Ibones said.

Concerns

Ibones admitted there are some who have expressed unwillingness to be vaccinated and are raising concerns mostly with information they have read on social media with regard to the side effects of the vaccine.

He said they already met with these individuals, by batch, to address their concerns since Monday.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama, for his part, said this is why information education campaign (IEC) is very important.

“We must always be more realistic... Mao gyud nay dako nga challenge (convincing the people to have themselves vaccinated),” he said.

Rama said there are many public officials like him and Mayor Edgardo Labella who have offered to be vaccinated first to set an example to residents.

“Aron makakita sila nga we are willing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Councilor David Tumulak said they are taking into consideration access to transportation, water, and nearest hospital, among others, in choosing vaccination sites.

He said the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Don Bosco Youth Center in Barangay Punta Princesa will be the vaccination site for BHWs.

Different sections have been established there such as registration, screening, vaccination, post-vaccination monitoring, and surveillance.

Purchase

On Wednesday, Labella announced that he has signed the term sheet for Cebu City’s purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.

The term sheet indicates Faberco Life Sciences, Incorporated, the distributor of the Covovax vaccine in the Philippines.

The city earlier said it was considering both Covovax and AstraZenica but decided to halt plans of purchasing the latter following reports of European countries stopping inoculation with the brand owing to reports of death and blood clots. Investigation is ongoing to determine if these adverse effects can be linked directly to the vaccine.

“I have just signed the term sheet for the Cebu City Government to purchase our own COVID-19 vaccines so we can augment what was given by the national government,” Labella said in a Facebook post.

The city has set aside P400 million for its vaccine roll-out but Labella said they will use only P100 million for now.

“Nakagahin na ta og budget para niini. As I have said before, atong kining anam-anamon og gamit aron dili magsobra o masayang ang paliton nga vaccines,” the mayor said.

As indicated in the term sheet, the city will order an initial 140,000 doses of Covovax but Rama said discussions are ongoing to order more with AstraZeneca vaccines being set aside. — Caecent Noot-Magsumbol, Mary Ruth R. Malinao /JMO (FREEMAN)