DOH: No 2nd booster shots yet

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the continuing increase in COVID-19 cases, the administration of a second booster or fourth dose of COVID vaccines is not yet on the horizon, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said yesterday.

“Our (vaccine) experts have been coordinating with their counterparts in the (international) scientific community on vaccinology and immunology and they have been studying this,” Duque said.

He maintained that there is no clear evidence that giving a fourth jab would be “significant” in the fight against COVID-19, adding that there has been a spike in cases even in countries giving out second booster shots.

Duque also refuted a World Bank (WB) report saying the country’s COVID-19 inoculation is low and this likely led to a spike in cases. “I don’t know how they came up with that analysis. Even countries with high vaccination coverage are seeing surge in cases. With that, we can refute this analysis being offered by World Bank,” he said.

“In some countries where the vaccines are being manufactured and where there is high vaccination coverage and are now offering fourth dose, you would see their cases rising,” he added.

He underscored that other countries did not experience having calamities such as Typhoon Odette which had caused the disruption of vaccination.

Out of context

Acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles yesterday clarified that a video clip of President Duterte was taken out of context by groups using it to discourage the public from getting COVID-19 boosters.

Nograles said the video – where the President stated that two doses of COVID-19 shots are sufficient – was recorded on Sept. 30, 2021.

“The said video clip should be viewed in the proper context. At that point, 21 million of our countrymen were fully vaccinated, and our priority was to increase this number, which is why the provision of booster shots had yet to be approved,” Nograles said.

“The situation today is vastly different. Last November, the government approved the use of booster doses for all fully vaccinated individuals as we had ample supplies of vaccines and a substantial percentage of our population was already fully vaccinated,” he added.

The President, in his Dec. 21, 2021 address, enjoined the public to take advantage of the country’s sufficient supply of vaccines and get their booster shots to control the spread of the Omicron variant, Nograles said.

“We reiterate that there is clear evidence that COVID-19 booster shots provide additional protection against the virus and urge the public to refrain from sharing disinformation that will endanger the lives of our kababayans, compromise our efforts to contain COVID-19 and undermine our campaign to beat the disease,” he said.

The government has tapped private drugstores and clinics to assist the government in providing booster shots to the public.

Data showed that as of Jan. 23, 57.26 million individuals have been fully vaccinated while 59.79 million got their first dose. Meanwhile, 6.29 million individuals have received boosters. – Helen Flores