MANILA, Philippines — The OCTA Research Group is discouraging the public from getting a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines, citing the lack of clinical trial data supporting its safety and efficacy.
“We have no data about the effects of a third dose. No one has any data on what will happen if you give a third dose. There is no controlled experiment. If you receive a third dose close to the second dose, is there going to be a side effect? We don’t know,” OCTA fellow and molecular biologist Fr. Nicanor Austriaco said in an interview on “The Chiefs” on One News.
On Monday, San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora admitted receiving four doses of vaccines: two shots of Sinopharm last December and another two of Pfizer last month.
“He’s doing an experiment on himself. We have to discourage this kind of behavior. There are Filipinos who are tempted to do this and we have to be very clear that there is no data to support any of this behavior,” Austriaco explained. – Sheila Crisostomo