Expert advises homologous booster vaccination for pregnant health workers

An infectious disease expert on Wednesday advised pregnant healthcare workers to choose a homologous booster vaccination against COVID-19 to lessen the likelihood of an adverse reaction.

A homologous booster dose means an individual will be inoculated with the same vaccine brand used in their primary series while a heterologous booster dose means an individual will be vaccinated with a different brand.

At the DOH Town Hall briefing, Dr. Anna Ong-Lim said that though she sees no issues with pregnant women receiving booster shots, she would advise choosing a homologous vaccination.

“Coming from the perspective na ang prino-protect natin diito is occupational risk and considering na inactivated vaccines naman itong pinaguusapan natin, I would not expect any issues with pregnant women receiving a boost,” said Ong-Lim, chief of the DOH Infectious and Tropical Disease Section.

(Coming from the perspective that we are protecting occupational risk and considering that we are using inactivated vaccines, I would not expect any issues with pregnant women receiving a boost.)

“On a personal note, I would probably advise homologous rather than a heterologous platform just to decrease the variables and decrease the likelihood of any adverse reactions,” she added.

She also advised the public to follow guidelines and refrain from getting boosters within six months after completing their primary dose series.

“Ang basis kasi ng booster is really naka-base siya sa understanding ng anti-body responses. And there is such a thing as optimizing these responses, and from what we know right now, the data supports boosting on the six months onwards,” she said.

“Siguro dahil the state of knowledge that we have for these vaccines is so recent, let’s try to stay within the guidelines para hindi rin tayo masyadong magkaroon ng unforeseen consequences,” she later added.

(Since the state of knowledge that we have for these vaccines is so recent, let’s try to stay within the guidelines so we won’t have unforeseen consequences.)

The Philippines on Wednesday began the inoculation of fully-vaccinated healthcare workers with booster doses.  DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the inoculation of senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals will follow. — RSJ GMA News