Health workers giving additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine may be held liable, according to DOH.
The Department of Health (DOH) warned health workers who will administer additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine that they can be held liable for their action.
On Monday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reminded doctors and health workers that COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) didn’t include the use of an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose.
According to Vergeire, the COVID-19 vaccines should be used based on what was indicated in the EUA.
“Kung ano ang nasa EUA, yan ang magiging gamit ng bakuna. Mag-ingat tayo dahil kapag may violations sa ganito, maaaring magkaroon ng sanctions,” Vergeire said in a media briefing.
DOH’s warning came after San Juan Representative Ronaldo Zamora admitted that he had received two Pfizer vaccine doses after receiving two Sinopharm vaccine doses, meaning he had received four COVID-19 vaccine doses despite the shortage of vaccine supplies in the Philippines.
READ ALSO: San Juan Solon Receives Pfizer Vaccine Doses After Receiving Sinopharm Vaccine Doses
The Department of Health stood by its decision not to recommend additional COVID-19 vaccine doses yet due to vaccine shortage and lack of solid evidence that it was necessary to fully protect an individual against the coronavirus disease.
Vergeire also said that based on their survey on healthcare workers, who mostly received AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines, completion of the two doses led to lower coronavirus infection rates and no hospitalizations or deaths due to COVID-19.
“Sana isipin natin na hanggang wala pang ebidensya ang booster shots na ito, bigyan natin ng kumpyansa ang ating mga bakuna. Lumalabas na sa ngayon, ang real world studies na ang lahat ng ginagamit na bakuna dito sa ating bansa ay effective against hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths and even effective against symptomatic infections,” Vergeire said.
Recently, Pfizer announced that it was seeing waning immunity from its COVID-19 vaccine and said that it was picking up its efforts to develop a COVID-19 booster shot that will protect people from COVID-19 variants.
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