THE Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, on Tuesday confirmed that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for Moderna and Pfizer’s bivalent Covid-19 vaccines.
Vergeire said that they target to procure bivalent vaccines early next year.
“We are pursuing the procurement of bivalent vaccines, because articles and evidences have shown na ito ay mas makakaprotect sa ating kababayan [that this can protect our countrymen] because of component on Omicron variant,” Vergeire said.
The DOH noted that the virus changes and one’s immunity naturally decreases over time, and that people may lose some of the protection.
According to US FDA the bivalent Covid-19 vaccines include a component of the original virus strain to provide broad protection against Covid-19 and a component of the omicron variant, providing better protection against Covid-19 caused by the omicron variant.
In a television interview, Dr. Rontgene Solante, head of the San Lazaro Hospital’s Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, said that bivalent vaccines target the Omicron and its subvariants, including BF.7.
Reports said the current surge in Covid-19 infections in China is believed to be driven by the BF.7 sub-variant of Omicron.