Duterte tells Pinoys: Don't get more than 2 vaccine doses

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday told Filipinos not to get more than two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Duterte made the pronouncement during his weekly Talk to the People even as the Department of Health has yet to decide on booster shots against COVID-19. 

"Check out the vaccinations being done daily at baka magsali ka na doon sa second shot. Tama na yang dalawang doses. Huwag ninyo sobrahan, delikado," Duterte said.

He said getting third and fourth shots of vaccines would deprive others who have not yet been inoculated.

"When you do that multiple... you deprive your countrymen the orders sa isang bakuna na naibigay sa kapwa mong tao," Duterte said.

"Ganoon yan e, kapag masyado kayo may iba second, third, fourth, di naman kailangan and it does not add full protection to your body," he added.

Not all COVID-19 vaccines require two shots. Single-jab vaccines include Sputnik Light by Gamaleya and the shot made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Waning effectiveness?

According to the latest analysis of phone app data from the Zoe Covid Study, protection  from two doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines waned within six months, suggesting that booster shots may be needed to ensure prolonged coverage.

The latest finding comes as several countries are rolling out additional jabs for the fully vaccinated, a move slammed by the World Health Organization as millions in the world have yet to receive a single dose.

The Pfizer jab was 88 percent effective a month after the second dose, but protection fell to 74 percent after five to six months.

Moratorium on boosters

WHO representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe has called for a moratorium on administering booster shots "unless it is for immunocompromised individuals."

Duterte has approved the vaccination of the general population against COVID-19 starting in October.

Duterte also approved the vaccination of minors against COVID-19. His spokesman urged parents to have the children listed for inoculation.

Food and Drug Administration director general Eric Domingo has said that the Department of Health would soon decide whether to recommend COVID-19 booster shots for fully vaccinated people.

Booster shots being studied

“I think they are still discussing it. The DOH said they will decide soon,” Domingo said in a text message to GMA News Online.

Domingo said the DOH could come up with a position within the week.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire has said the recommendations of the All Experts' Group for COVID-19 Vaccines were still being finalized and would be forwarded to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the vaccine cluster.

So far, only the Vaccine Experts Panel has recommended the use of booster shots on health workers. -NB, GMA News