DOH: COVID-19 jabs with extended shelf life 'safe, effective'
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health on Tuesday assured the public that COVID-19 vaccines with extended shelf life are safe and effective against the virus.
The DOH emphasized that the process of extending the shelf life of vaccines undergoes “thorough stability studies.”
The agency issued the advisory following reports that there are people who are skeptical about receiving COVID-19 jabs because of the extended shelf life that has not been changed on the label of vaccine vials.
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through thorough studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it said.
Last week, the DOH said that over 20 million donated and procured COVID-19 jabs were identified as wastage after some had expired, had been contaminated, and had been destroyed by disasters.
The country’s COVID-19 vaccine wastage was at 8.42% — still within the standard rate of 10% or lower set by the World Health Organization.
Latest government data showed that more than 72.3 million Filipinos have completed vaccination against COVID-19. However, the uptake of booster shots remained low with only 17.4 million people getting additional protection.
In a bid to encourage more Filipinos to get boosters, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. received his second booster last week. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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