HTAC recommendation on booster, additional shots to be updated — DOH

The Health Technology Assessment Council’s recommendation on booster shots and additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines are only interim recommendations and will still be updated, the Health Department said Thursday.

According to the DOH, the recommendations are only interim to guide sectoral planning.

It said this will be updated pending the assessment of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the amendment of the emergency use authorization and the recommendation of the World Health Organization this coming November.

The DOH on Monday said it has submitted its letter of intent for the application of the EUA to the FDA and is working on completing the required documents.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire previously said the EUA of the vaccines must be amended as it specifically states the number of doses that must be administered to complete the vaccination.

“Pero ‘yung EUA po kasi nila, ngayon, currently, specific po ‘yun na dalawang doses lang ang ibibigay, and para sa Janssen na vaccine, isang dose lang. Kaya kailangan po natin ma-amend,” she said.

(But their EUA, now, currently, it specified that only two doses will be given [for other vaccines], and one dose for Janssen vaccine. That is why it has to be amended.)

According to the agency, the formal recommendation on boosters will be adopted into a policy with operational plans.

Meanwhile, Vergeire pushed for the vaccination of eligible minors, saying the primary series of vaccines outweigh the incremental benefit of boosters.

“We have to prioritize giving the primary series of these COVID-19 vaccines to the unvaccinated so they, too, can receive the additional protection that vaccines provide against hospitalizations and deaths,” it said.

The Philippines has vaccinated a total of 18,666 minors with comorbidities. — RSJ, GMA News