DOH cautions LGUs against administering 2nd booster to general population

Asked if vaccination centers were allowed to give a second COVID-19 booster shot to the general adult population, the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday cautioned local government units that they would be held liable for adverse events or complications from general population second boosters.

Under the emergency use authorization, only immunocompromised individuals, healthcare workers, and senior citizens were qualified for the second booster shot.

“If meron pong maging adverse event ang ating mga kababayan na binibigyan niyo na ng hindi pa dapat, ‘yun pong accountability will rest doon po sa inyong local government,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.

(If your constituents, who are given something that they should not have been given, experience an adverse event, the accountability will rest on the local government.)

Vergeire gave the warning after an individual supposedly received a second booster shot without meeting the criteria for the shot.

The DOH official reiterated that second booster shots were not yet recommended for the general population.

The Health Undersecretary also stressed that immunocompromised individuals were different from individuals with comorbidities.

The DOH said that immunocompromised were those in an immunodeficient state, had HIV, active cancer or malignancy, transplant recipients, undergoing steroid treatment, patients with poor prognosis, bed-ridden patients, and other conditions of immunodeficiency as certified by physicians.

Meanwhile, individuals with comorbidities or the A3 priority group included adults aged 18 to 59 with “any controlled comorbidity."

Persons with controlled comorbidities were those who had no symptoms, have stable vital signs, have had no attacks, admissions, or changes in medication for the past three months, and are not currently hospitalized.

Meanwhile, as it was Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Vergeire also urged men to get regular check-ups.

“Batid namin na mas prone ang ating mga tumatandang kalalakihan sa sakit na prostate cancer. Kaya naman ugaling magpa-check up upang masigurong malusog ang inyong mga prostate glands,” she said.

(We know that older men are more prone to prostate cancer. So get regular check-ups to ensure that your prostate gland is healthy.) — DVM, GMA News