DOH to procure minimal number of bivalent vaccines

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday disclosed that it will procure “a minimal number” of COVID-19 bivalent vaccines, which are expected to become available in the country in the first quarter of 2023.

At a press briefing, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said they will just increase the stocks depending on demand.

“We’re ordering by the millions, but it is not going to be really… We are just going to procure a minimal number of doses,” Vergeire said. “We have an agreement with the (vaccine) manufacturers that in case the demand goes up, we can immediately place another order and that they can have it delivered as soon as possible.”

Earlier, the Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for the bivalent vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer.

Vergeire said they are finalizing the guidelines for the use of the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent vaccines. Bivalent vaccines are a type of vaccine that targets specific variants of COVID-19, like the more transmissible Omicron subvariant.

“We are currently drafting the guidelines since the EUAs for both Pfizer and Moderna have already come out,” said the health official. “We are trying to procure from both manufacturers.”

She said that for Pfizer, they have already signed a confidentiality disclosure agreement, which will be the signal to start negotiations. As for Moderna, Vergeire said negotiations for procurement are already in the advance stage.

Priority

The head of the government’s vaccine expert panel said that the same groups that were given priority for the COVID-19 primary vaccine series are the same sectors that will be prioritized for use of bivalent vaccines to be purchased by the country.

Dr. Nina Gloriani said these will include health care workers, senior citizens and the immunocompromised.

“I don’t think it would be any different. The prioritization is the same: A1, A2, A3 and to follow are the other groups or categories,” Gloriani told “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News Wednesday night.

At the same time, Gloriani said that because of the wastage issue, “we are more careful now in procurement. We don’t want to get too much supplies.” She added that a survey on the bivalent vaccine was conducted wherein the purpose is “to look at people who are interested in getting it.”

“So that’s how they will manage the procurement or the number of doses,” said Gloriani.

She likewise noted that the DOH should be able to come out with guidelines soon, “so by the time that supplies come in which we hope is by early next year, we know who to give these vaccines to.”

As for the possibility of administering the bivalent vaccine to other sectors of the population apart from the identified priority groups, Gloriani said, “Usually we have to wait because there could be some data that would be coming in so we can re-assess, re-evaluate what’s coming in depending on the supplies.”