Philippine vaccine experts looking into mixing of COVID-19 vaccine brands

Vaccine experts in the Philippines are looking into the possibility of mixing different brands of COVID-19 vaccine as the country grapples with a supply shortage.

Dr. Nina Gloriani said the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) “might” consider the “very practical or realistic scenario” of mixing vaccine brands, adding that there should be “no issue” from an immunological standpoint.

“‘Di ba kulang din ang ating mga suppliesCOVID-19? Sometimes we have to be realistic ano ‘yung next na puwede ibigay. Hindi puwedeng i-delay too long ‘yung second dose,” she said in a Department of Health (DOH) briefing.

(Our supply is scarce, right? Sometimes we have to be realistic about what vaccine we can give. We can’t delay the second dose for too long.)

Gloriani said the VEP is considering the matter but stressed the need for guidelines to be put in place.

The DOH earlier said there was still “no sufficient evidence” supporting the mixing of vaccine brands.

“‘Yun pa rin po ang ating posisyon at ang posisyon ng ating mga eksperto at FDA that whatever brand you have started with na bakuna sa inyo, ‘yan pa rin ‘yung second dose niyo,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Monday.

(That is still our position and the position of our experts and the FDA that whatever brand used in the first dose should also be the same brand for the second dose.)

Gloriani explained that COVID-19 vaccines are not comparable since they employ different technologies. She said some vaccines like those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, however, make use of the same platform.

“Baka puwedeng sa ngayon ‘yung mag-interchange ay ‘yung the same platform (Maybe for now what can be interchanged are those using the same platform),” Gloriani said.

“‘Yun muna ang tinitingnan namin sa una (That’s what we’ll look into first).”

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages sticking to one vaccine brand for both doses but said people can receive both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots only “in exceptional situations” with at least 28 days interval. 

The Philippines has so far received over 3 million doses, more than 1 million of which have been administered.  —KBK, GMA News