‘No initiatives yet on booster shots’

MANILA, Philippines —  The government is not yet looking into the possibility of giving booster shots to health workers vaccinated with Sinovac, Malacañang said yesterday, as questions linger about the China-made jabs’ efficacy against more infectious COVID-19 variants.

“No such initiative so far,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said, quoting infectious disease expert Edsel Salvaña who criticized a report saying hundreds of Thai medical workers (618 out of 677,348 individuals) were infected despite the Sinovac vaccination.

“As Dr. Salvaña told a newspaper outfit, ‘Do a better job of objective reporting. You guys are killing vaccine confidence. This will cause lives. What’s the vaccine effectiveness for those numbers? What’s the infectious rate and death rate among unvaccinated, you guys can do better than that. We expect better. The vaccines are working very well,” Roque said.

Delays

The Department of Health (DOH) is not expecting the delays in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to hamper the country’s goal of achieving herd immunity by yearend.

“If it’s going to be affecting our herd immunity goal, I don’t think so because the delay is just one or two weeks, like the Sinovac and other vaccines,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said yesterday.

The government aims to inoculate at least 58 million Filipinos by yearend.

As of July 11, some 13.2 million individuals have already received the first dose of their COVID-19 jabs, while only 3.52 million have completed their two-dose vaccination.

Vergeire also appealed to those seeking COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to think of others who have not been inoculated.

“We’ve been saying this – let us give the chance for everybody to be vaccinated first before we think of booster doses,” Vergeire said, noting that they could not yet recommend giving booster shots because there is no scientific evidence on its safety.

Vergeire made the statement after San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora admitted having two Pfizer booster shots in addition to receiving China-made Sinopharm vaccines back in December, three months before the country started its own vaccination rollout.

Vergeire also warned against mixing and matching vaccines, stating that there is no evidence on its safety and effectiveness. “Our physicians or medical professionals should align with the protocols of the government because these protocols are based on science and evidence,” she added.

Dismissed

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a petition questioning the purchase and use of Sinovac, stating that it should have been filed at the appropriate regional trial court and not before the SC.

In a 17-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez, the SC dismissed the petition for writ of mandamus filed by Pedrito Nepomuceno, former mayor of Boac, Marinduque province, against respondents President Duterte, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Galvez.

The petitioner asked the Court for a cease and desist order against the purchase and use of Sinovac and expressed concern on the efficacy of the Chinese-made vaccine.

“Applying the foregoing standards, the petition must fail. Petitioner failed to point out the existence of a ministerial duty, which the law compels the respondents to perform with regard to the conduct of trial and procurement of vaccines for COVID-19,” the SC said in its dismissal.

It also said that President Duterte should have been dropped from the list of respondents since as an incumbent leader, he is immune from suit. The resolution was issued on May 11 but was released to the public on July 9. – Sheila Crisostomo, Evelyn Macairan