DOH: 3 milllion flu shots available next month

MANILA, Philippines — After failing to procure influenza vaccines last year, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday over three million doses of flu shots will become available in October.

“For this year, we are procuring 3,054,600 doses of flu vaccines,” DOH Undersecretary Gloria Balboa told The STAR.

Balboa said the vaccines are expected to arrive by October or November.

Priority in the flu vaccination are senior citizens and health workers, Balboa said.

She added that a second batch consisting of 4.4 million doses of flu vaccines are expected to arrive next year.

The DOH procured 3.6 million and 5.1 million doses of influenza vaccines in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Both batches of vaccines were fully utilized, the DOH said.

The DOH did not procure flu shots for 2025.

The World Health Organization has defined influenza-like illness (ILI) as an infection characterized by fever not lower than 38°C and cough lasting 10 days.

Other ILI symptoms include colds, weakness, body ache, headache, vomiting, sore throat, diarrhea and chills.

The DOH advised those experiencing flu-like symptoms to wear face mask and cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.