DOH: COVID-19 vaccine recipients to be informed of brand right before jab

The brand of COVID-19 vaccine to be administered on recipients will still be disclosed right before the jab, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

The DOH made the clarification a day after it announced that vaccination sites will no longer announce what brands are available on a specific date.

"'Pag sinabi naman na hindi natin ia-announce 'yung brand (When we say we won’t announce the brand), we are not going to announce the brand as of [that] day," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told Unang Hirit.

“Siyempre bago ‘yan ibakuna sa inyo, sasabihin ano ‘yung ibibigay (Of course, before the vaccine is administered, you will be informed what brand it is),” Dr. Gloria Balboa, DOH regional director for Metro Manila, added in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

The officials said the new strategy is part of a bid to avoid overcrowding at vaccination sites.

The DOH came up with the decision after people thronged to vaccination sites in Parañaque and Manila earlier this week after learning that Pfizer vaccines were available. 

Following the incidents, the DOH said the available vaccine brands would no longer be announced publicly beforehand. Those who will refuse vaccination because they prefer a different brand will have to go back to the end of the line.

“All of these vaccines that are in the country are going to protect them,” Vergeire stressed. “Wala naman pong isang mas magaling o magiging mas epektibo para sa kanila (No vaccine is better or more effective than others).”

She added that the DOH is conducting an “intensive” information campaign to address qualms about COVID-19 vaccines.

Senator Risa Hontiveros has urged the DOH to reconsider its policy on non-disclosure of vaccine brand before inoculation as it will further stir the public’s doubt on the national vaccination program.

But in a statement, the DOH said “not announcing what brand will be available in inoculation sites will not take away the right of individuals to be informed of the vaccine they are taking.”

“The vaccination process entails on-site vaccine education, proper recording using vaccination cards, and monitoring for Adverse Events Following Immunization,” it said.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año has ordered local governments not to make advance announcements about available vaccine brands following the DOH’s pronouncement. 

Similar to what the DOH officials stated, Año said individuals who intend to be inoculated against COVID-19 will be informed of the brand on the vaccination site.

The Philippines has vaccinated over 2.5 million people as of May 18, still far from the government’s target of inoculating 50 million to 70 million people this year. --KBK, GMA News