Duterte adviser says gov’t must secure COVID-19 medicines, booster shots

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion on Tuesday said the government should boost its arsenal to protect its citizens against COVID-19.

At a virtual press briefing Concepcion, a staunch advocate of safely reopening the economy, said that “the government has to secure the necessary medicines that will help the people who are sick.”

“The Merck pill is also being explored… All of these medicines, protection and arsenal that we can bring to help protect, the Filipino people from COVID-19 must continue,” the Duterte adviser said.

Data shows that molnupiravir, an experimental antiviral pill developed by Merck & Co. could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19. 

If it gets authorization, molnupiravir, which is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus, would be the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19, the report said.

Concepcion, likewise, emphasized the need to secure the booster shots at the soonest possible time to “make sure there is no break in our immunity and our protection from COVID-19” amid claims that current vaccines have an average six months immunity.

Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center Myrna Cabotaje earlier 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. 

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.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (DOH) did not specify any brand of vaccine that needed to be administered a third time, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire amid claims that China-made vaccines needed to be administered thrice due to a shorter efficacy period. 

Concepcion said the government needs to plan as early as now in securing medicines and booster shots to ensure a smooth transition “when we shift to next administration.” — BM, GMA News