DOH discussing monkeypox vaccine procurement with other ASEAN countries

The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it is talking with other member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the procurement of vaccines against monkeypox.

“Nakikipag-ugnayan tayo sa ASEAN member states. Pinag-usapan na po on that level ang international membership yung ASEAN procurement ng monkeypox vaccines,” DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a press briefing.

(We are coordinating with the ASEAN member states. The procurement of monkeypox vaccines is being discussed on that level of international membership.)

“We will be joining the ASEAN states if and when these plans will push through,” she added.

Vergeire said that the DOH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have identified three manufacturers of the monkeypox vaccine.

“So ito po ang ating tinitignan sa ngayon kung paano tayo papasok sa ganitong procurement,” she said.

(We were also looking at how we will join the procurement process.)

Meanwhile, DOH alternate spokesperson Undersecretary Beverly Ho earlier said discussions with the United States government to secure vaccines for monkeypox are ongoing.

Ho said that only a select group of the population would have to be vaccinated.

Last June, US health authorities said they were immediately releasing 56,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine—five times the number distributed so far—to areas of high transmission as part of a major escalation of the country's immunization strategy.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) only recommended monkeypox vaccines be offered to those who had confirmed exposures.

The first symptoms can include a fever, headaches, sharp muscle pains, fatigue, a rash, as well as swollen and painful lymph nodes. — BM, GMA News