The Philippines would be more cautious in choosing the COVID-19 vaccine for the elderly, according to Galvez.
Vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. on Sunday said that the Philippines would be more cautious in choosing the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to the elderly.
This, after Bloomberg reported that 29 senior citizens from Norway died after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
As per the report, the most recent figure added six fatalities to the overall number of known deaths in Norway and also lowered the age group from 80 to 75.
Galvez said in an interview on GMA Network’s Dobol B sa News TV that they would make sure that a similar incident won’t happen in the Philippines once the Philippine government’s COVID-19 vaccination program started.
In addition, Galvez said that upon hearing the news, he then reached out to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III about their plan for administering the COVID-19 vaccine to senior citizens in the country.
According to Galvez, they said that their original plan of administering the vaccine to only 18 to 59 years old would be better and they would look for a COVID-19 vaccine that was specifically made for the elderly.
“So ‘yun ang talagang titignan natin lalo na ‘yung talagang may komplikasyon at talagang nakikita natin ‘yung mga frail. Kasi titignan natin din ‘yung risk and benefit ng bakuna natin,” Galvez said.
READ ALSO: Norway Raises Concern Over Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Jabs For The Elderly
The Norwegian Medicines Agency said in a written response to Bloomberg that there were 13 deaths that had been assessed and they’re aware of another 16 deaths that are currently being assessed, adding that all the reported COVID-19 vaccine fatalities were related to “elderly people with serious basic disorders”.
FDA Director-General Eric Domingo on Thursday announced that the Food and Drug Administration had granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) to the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.
Galvez earlier said that the Pfizer vaccine could be the first COVID-19 vaccine that would be used in the Philippines as the COVAX Facility would have an early rollout of the said vaccine brand.
Meanwhile, Malacañang on Monday said that it was hoping that the reported fatalities of some senior citizens in Norway after receiving Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine won’t affect its emergency use authorization (EUA) in the Philippines.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque underscored the importance of giving Filipinos protection from coronavirus disease despite the negative report.
Roque said in an interview on GMA Network’s Unang Balita that all vaccines can’t claim to have 100% safety and 100% efficacy.
“So ‘yun po ang dahilan para mas malaki ‘yung urgency na mabakunahan laban sa COVID-19 nang maiwasan ang pagkamatay sa COVID-19 kaysa doon sa kanyang possible side effects,” Roque said.
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