Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana said Tuesday the Philippines should get reformulated COVID-19 vaccines if it plans to administer booster doses in the future.
The government has yet to decide whether to implement a vaccine booster program similar to other countries, although it is now talking to potential suppliers and has already asked Congress for standby authority to fund the rollout.
“Sa general population mukhang for now two doses is enough at kung magkaka-booster man tayo later on, I would rather get a new and improved reformulated vaccine na kasama na iyong Delta sa titirahin niya dahil kung mag-boost tayo nitong old-type vaccine, I don’t know how much more it will add sa clinical efficacy and mataas na rin iyong protection against severe disease,” Salvana said at a Palace news conference.
(For the general population, I believe two doses is enough. Should we administer vaccine booster shots later on, I would rather get a new and improved, reformulated vaccine that is effective against the Delta variant. If we will use the old type of vaccines, I don’t know how much more it will add to the clinical efficacy considering that they already offer high protection against severe disease.)
In the meantime, the country should continue vaccinating as many people with the available old vaccines since these have beneficial effects, said Salvana, a member of the Department of Health Technical Advisory Group.
OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco agreed with Salvana.
“At this point, it’s so important to build up population immunity in the Philippines and the population immunity will also directly benefit those who are immunocompromised and who might have weakened immune systems because it prevents the virus from getting to them,” said Austriaco, a molecular biologist.
The government has so far administered 41.79 million vaccine doses, with 22.97 million people receiving the first dose and 18.82 million individuals now fully vaccinated.—LDF, GMA News
Infectious disease expert suggests reformulated vaccines vs. coronavirus variants
Source: Balita News
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