Gov’t urged to fast-track COVID-19 shots as vaccines approach expiry date

The national government should speed up its immunization program against COVID-19 as some vaccines will reach their expiration dates next month, health expert Dr. Tony Leachon said Wednesday.

In Maris Umali's report on 24 Oras, Leachon cited that the government has so far reported 36,000 average daily vaccinations, but the ideal daily average is 200,000.

Leachon said the country's average number of vaccinations is still a low target, considering 1.5 million shots of British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca's vaccine are expected to expire by June 30.

Leachon said this is impossible to distribute unless the government asks help from the private sector and local governments to address the bottlenecks.

"There are a lot of patients who want to get vaccinated but they have yet to be scheduled for inoculation. It is a waste," Leachon said in Filipino.

He further urged the government to form a strategic plan to address the disparity between vaccinations and vaccine supplies.

He suggested that the government look for 5,000 vaccination sites instead of creating a mega vaccination site that could possibly become a super spreader.

Leachon noted that vaccinations can be done at parking lots or conducted through drive-thru.

Also, the health expert urged the government to include people in the A4 category— government and economic frontliners—on the list of people to be given the current AstraZeneca supply.

Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje earlier said the A4 category cannot be included in the distribution of the 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses from COVAX facility, as these have been allocated to those in the A1 to A3 categories. She said the A4 workers can be vaccinated once more supplies come in.

Cabotaje also earlier said that the country has so far recorded an average number of more than 67,000 vaccinations per day.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier vowed that they will use all AstraZeneca doses with the help of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

According to the National COVID-19 Vaccine Operations Center, 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses will expire on June 30 and 525,000 doses will expire on July 31. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News