No waning effect seen in vaccines yet —Domingo

Philippine Food and Drug Administration director general Eric Domingo said there is no need to administer COVID-19 booster shots for now as the agency has yet to see a waning effect in the vaccines.

In a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on early Tuesday, Domingo said the low number of breakthrough COVID-19 infections means there is still no need to administer booster shots among fully vaccinated individuals.

"At this time, wala pa pong pangangailangan na magbigay ng booster dahil hindi pa tayo nakakakita ng waning effect noong vaccine," Domingo said.

Domingo said the FDA reported 516 breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated individuals nationwide.

He said the 516 infections represent only 0.0025% of the 20.3 million fully vaccinated in the country.

"Kung at fifth month makita natin na bumababa na 'yong kaniyang (vaccine) protection eh dapat dumadami po 'yong nagkakaroon ng breakthrough infection pero hindi pa natin 'to nakikita at this time," he said.

"So I fully agree that this time, there is no reason to believe that we need it (booster) immediately. Nakikita po natin na 'di pa po nagbabago," he added.

Earlier, the Department of Health said there is no complete evidence yet on the need for boosters.

The country has so far recorded 2,674,814 COVID-19 cases including 39,660 deaths and 2,536,260 recoveries.—LDF, GMA News