PSG members may get inoculated anew if vaccines not effective enough, says Duque

The members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) who already received unregistered COVID-19 vaccines may "theoretically" receive two more doses of authorized vaccines should the first ones fail to protect them from the novel disease, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Friday.

"Assuming ho na 'yung bakuna nila di pasok doon sa required 50% na efficacy, which means technically kailangan nila magpabakuna ulit... Pwede ba silang magpabakuna ng ibang vaccine considering na na-vaccinate na sila ng ibang brand?" Senator Nancy Binay asked during a Senate hearing.

Duque, citing information that toxicity was not found in high-dose administration of vaccines in some clinical trials, said this could be done in theory.

"Theoretically, pwede naman po pero kailangan bantayan pa rin for adverse events following the immunization or serious side effects at kailangan din pangasiwaan ang mga ito," he said.

Still, Duque reiterated that the prevailing policy was not to give an individual two different brands of COVID-19 vaccine.

"That was only my answer to the theoretical question," he said.

"Ang protocol po natin kapag nabakunahan na kayo ng isang klase di pwedeng ihalo ang ibang bakuna dahil mahihirapan tayong matukoy kung ano ang naging sanhi ng adverse event following immunization—kung 'yun bang una o pangalawang bakuna," he said.

Earlier this month, the PSG admitted that its members were inoculated against COVID-19 using a donated vaccine. They did not disclose the source.

The revelation came after President Rodrigo Duterte mentioned that some soldiers  had already received Sinopharm's vaccine.

On the other hand, a group claiming to be the sole distributor of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine in the country has denied involvement in the controversial inoculation.

To date, Sinopharm has yet to apply for emergency use authorization in the country, according to the Food and Drug Administration. -NB, GMA News