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DOH probes NCR hospital that administered 2nd booster to non-immunocompromised

By GISELLE OMBAY,GMA News

The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it is now looking at reports that a hospital in the National Capital Region (NCR) allegedly administered the second COVID-19 booster shots to health workers and senior citizens who are not immunocompromised.

In a statement, DOH said the hospital management involved in the issue has already explained that they “unintentionally misinterpreted” the guidelines released by DOH regarding the second booster inoculation.

“The DOH and NVOC are currently coordinating with the relevant Health Care Facilities and Vaccination sites to prevent further instances of these events. The facilities in question have now since returned to administering boosters to ICPs (immunocompromised) only,” they said.

The government on Monday, April 25, 2022, has started the rollout of the second booster shot in NCR but only for the immunocompromised population, as recommended by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC).

The emergency use authorization for the second booster shot was granted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the immunocompromised, senior citizens, and frontline health workers. However, DOH said the HTAC is still reviewing evidence for the elderly and health workers.

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In an earlier advisory, the Health department noted that those who may already receive the second booster under the immunocompromised category are those with immunodeficiency, HIV, active cancer, those receiving transplants, those taking immunosuppressive drugs such as steroids, and patients who are bedridden.

Vaccine brands that are provided for them for the second booster shot are AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Sinovac, and Sinopharm.

The DOH encouraged the eligible population to get the primary series and booster shots that are all proven to be safe and effective against the severe and critical symptoms brought by COVID-19.

As of Monday, DOH recorded some 12.9 million Filipinos who have received their first booster shots.

Meanwhile, more than 67.4 million individuals or 74.98% of the government’s target population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.—AOL, GMA News