MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is not suspending the administration of AstraZeneca anti-COVID vaccines to health care workers despite the move of Denmark, Iceland and Norway to suspenits use pending results of an investigation on allegations that the jabs cause blood clots.
National Task Force deputy chief Vince Dizon and presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. seem to be in agreement with Philippine Foundation for Vaccination executive director Lulu Bravo, who noted that experts are looking into the matter to determine if it should be a cause of concern.
“The common item from the experts and the World Health Organization is: we should not be afraid on what we are reading, that it has caused thromboembolism in Denmark,” Bravo said at yesterday’s virtual presser.
Noting that thromboembolism also happens to some persons who are not vaccinated, she stressed the importance of investigating the report first. She also cited that the administration of AstraZeneca has not been halted in many places, including in England where almost 11 million have been inoculated.
Both the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also said in a joint statement yesterday that there is no reason to stop AstraZeneca vaccination against COVID-19 in the Philippines.
The agencies noted that the benefits of being inoculated with AstraZeneca vaccines “continue to outweigh risk.”
“The DOH and FDA are aware that a few countries in the European Union have recently paused their vaccination campaign with COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca following reports of blood clots in people who received the vaccine,” the statement read in part.
Citing the position of European Medicine Authority (EMA), the DOH and FDA said there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects of this vaccine.
“The position of EMA’s safety committee PRAC is that the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing,” they added.
Dizon said the NTF is banking on experts’ views regarding AztraZeneca. “I think what the experts have been saying is very clear. We need to have enough data based on our experience here and (compare these) with the data and experience in other countries where the vaccines have been rolled out, not just AstraZeneca but all vaccines.”
He echoed Bravo’s statement that the government should weigh the benefits versus the risks of the vaccines.
“Right now, the benefits of the vaccines weigh more than its risks because it has been proven that it can prevent contracting the disease and death from it by 100 percent,” Dizon added.
At a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they are keeping an eye on the developments over AstraZeneca vaccination, as she noted that the identified “major contraindication” for COVID-19 vaccination is “severe anaphylaxis or severe allergic reactions.”
“As to other existing conditions, they are not saying that it is contraindicated to any other illness,” Vergeire said.
She also cited the experts’ recommendations for patients to get clearance from their doctors if they have existing conditions before they get themselves inoculated.
Meanwhile, the first shipment of 10,720 AstraZeneca vaccine doses and 10,640 doses of Sinovac, the second shipment for Region 2, arrived at the local airport yesterday afternoon and delivered to a DOH cold storage facility. – Sheila Crisostomo, Raymund Catindig