MALACAÑANG said health-care workers (HCW), who were among the first to get their Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, may be given “booster” shots by October.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said they will be waiting for the recommendation of the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) on whether such booster shots are necessary for Sinovac recipients, who were fully vaccinated last April.
This after the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) said initial studies showed the effectiveness of the two-dose Sinovac vaccine started to wane after six months.
“So, if [the effectiveness of Sinovac vaccines] is six months, that will expire . . . October or thereabouts,” Roque said.
“We will see if there is a science that will require it [booster shot],” he added.
Currently, the VEP has yet to recommend administering booster shots due to the country’s limited vaccine supply.
The government was only able to secure enough Covid-19 vaccines to fully vaccinate over 70 million people. The said supply does not yet include allocations for booster shots.
Roque said the government is already preparing to purchase vaccine supplies by allocating over P45 billion for it in the 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
He said the budget for the purchase will be sourced from multilateral lending agencies.
Nells Sorry pero importante and breaking news na ito sa mga nagpa Sinovac. Paki singit na lang sa gitna. Hatiin mo na lang ang Clark Airport story. Sorry ha. Sinovac kasi ako eh.