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DOH: Getting vaccine shot in the buttocks an option if arm is not muscular enough


Giving a vaccine shot in the buttocks is an option if the arm is not muscular enough, Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire said Wednesday.

Vergeire made the clarification a day after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque justified President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to get a COVID-19 vaccine privately by saying that the Chief Executive will be vaccinated in his butt, thus requiring privacy.

“Most of the vaccines are given intramuscular. Ibig sabihin, ipapasok o isasaksak mo sa muscle, at siya na (muscle) ang bahalang magpakalat sa katawan natin,” Vergeire said.

“Pag sinabing intramuscular, ang common practice po sa vaccine ay sa deltoid area (uppermost part of the arm). Pag hindi puwede sa deltoid area kasi masyado ng emaciated, meaning payat na payat, ibibigay natin [ang bakuna] sa ibang parte ng katawan na muscular. Puwede sa anterolateral part of the thigh o puwede rin po sa puwet o upper part ng butt,” Vergeire added.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, for his part, does not see any problem with the President not getting the COVID-19 vaccine in public.

“Let us respect the President’s decision but I am hopeful that he will change his mind,” Duque added.

During a previous Senate hearing on the government’s vaccination program, Duque said he will try to convince Duterte to get vaccinated in public to boost vaccine confidence among Filipinos.

The President initially said he is willing to get COVID-19 vaccine first to boost vaccine confidence, but he later backtracked and said he will go last instead to give way to the health workers and the poor— RSJ, GMA News

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