DOH: Philippines to resume AstraZeneca vaccinations for people under 60

The Philippines will resume the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine on people younger than 60 after it was given the green light by experts, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH will craft updated guidelines on the use of the AstraZeneca jab following reports of rare blood clots on some recipients abroad.

“[On] the whole, bottomline nito ay tayo ay maglalabas ng isang guideline para sa paggamit ng AstraZeneca to include these different precautions na binigay ng Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” Vergeire said in an online briefing.

(On the whole, the bottomline is we will come out with guidelines for the use of AstraZeneca to include the different precautions given by the FDA.)

Last week, FDA chief Eric Domingo recommended that the Philippines continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine after experts “unanimously” agreed that its “benefit outweighs risk.” 

This came after the Philippines temporarily suspended the use of the jab on people younger than 60

“Kailangan natin balikan din na napakaliit lang na porsyento ng populasyon na naapektuhan ng mga ganitong klaseng adverse events for AstraZeneca,” Vergeire said.

(We need to remember that only a small percentage of the population was affected by these kinds of adverse events for AstraZeneca.)

The DOH said no such adverse events have been reported in the Philippines.

The European Medicines Agency earlier explained that the risk of blood clotting is “very rare” after it examined 86 cases out of some 25 million people in Europe who got the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The Philippines has administered 1.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines as of April 17. — RSJ, GMA News