Lawmakers on Tuesday filed a bill that authorizes the deployment of dentists and medical technologists as vaccinators to speed up the government’s Covid inoculation program, and prevent the possible expiration of Covid-19 vaccine doses.
House Bill 9354, filed by Quezon Rep. Helen Tan, Quezon City Rep. Kit Belmonte, and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, seeks to amend Republic Act 11525, or the Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act. The statute provides a framework and guidelines for the procurement, administration process, and the provision of funds for the government’s inoculation program.
Aside from doctors and medical professionals, RA 11525 only allows duly trained pharmacists and midwives to administer doses of FDA-approved Covid-19 vaccines.
The lawmakers said the addition of dentists and medical technologists as vaccinators will contribute to the expansion of the vaccination program of the nation as more can administer jabs to Filipinos.
“With the arrival of more vaccines in the country, the swift roll out of the vaccine is needed for the efficient administration and prevention of possible expiration of the doses,” the bill’s explanatory note states.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), the government is now targeting to use all of its 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine before July when the said jabs will expire.
According to government data, 2,282,273 Filipinos have already been vaccinated as of May 16, 2021.
The World Health Organization said that at least 70 percent of the population must be inoculated to achieve herd immunity. In the Philippines, that is equivalent to approximately more than 70 million Filipinos.