COVID-19 vaccine makers need EUA for booster shots —DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday said that vaccine manufacturers should apply for an emergency use authorization (EUA) to provide a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot to those who have completed their primary doses.

“Kailangan ng emergency use authorization from FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for a booster shot kasi ‘yung inaplayan ng companies ngayon ay two doses lang ‘yan so if you are going to give a booster, dapat mag-apply din sila na pwedeng pang-booster ‘yung kanilang current vaccine na supply sa atin,” Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center Myrna Cabotaje said in an interview on Dobol B TV.

(An EUA from the FDA is needed for a booster shot because manufacturers of vaccines the country is using have authorization only for two doses. Thus, they need an approval for the 3rd shot.]

Cabotaje said that once the vaccine makers secured an EUA to provide a third dose or booster, the government will prioritize senior citizens, healthcare workers, and the immunocompromised individuals.

“We are asking our EUA holders na mag-apply na sila kung pwede sila magbigay as third dose o booster" (We are asking our EUA holders to apply for authorization so they can provide a third dose. We are reaching out to them so they can apply.)

She said that an EUA is still needed so that manufacturers can prove that giving booster shots or a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines are safe and that the “benefits outweigh the risks.”

Also, the government is studying if the third dose or booster shot should be the same vaccine brand as the primary doses or if it can be of different brand.

Cabotaje clarified that booster doses are given to those with waning immunity after several months of primary doses, while the third those are provided for those who may have not mounted sufficient immunity against COVID-19 such as senior citizens, healthcare workers, and those immunocompromised ones.

The Philippine government is expected to secure, by the end of the year, around $900 million worth of loans to fund the purchase of COVID-19 booster shots, which are under unprogrammed appropriations in the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said early this month. —LBG, GMA News