‘Not another Dengvaxia scandal:’ Zubiri cautions gov’t in selecting COVID-19 vaccine
MANILA, Philippines — The government should be cautious in selecting which coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to buy as to avoid “another Dengvaxia scandal on our hands,” Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Wednesday.
“Yung pagbili po lang natin ng bakuna sana yung kukunin ni [President Rodrigo Duterte] at ni DOH [Health] Secretary [Francisco Duque III] na mga bakuna ay manggagaling sa reputable sources and from one of those that is at least tested thoroughly,” Zubiri told reporters in an online interview.
(For the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, I hope the President and the DOH Secretary will select a vaccine from a reliable source and from one of those that is at least tested thoroughly.)
The efficacy of the vaccine is crucial, stressed Zubiri, a COVID-19 survivor.
“We have to make sure that our FDA (Food and Drug Administration) officials will make certain that the vaccines na bibilin po natin at ipamimigay natin sa ating mga kababayan ay mga matitinong bakuna,” Zubiri said.
(We have to make sure that our FDA (Food and Drug Administration) officials will make certain that the vaccines that will be purchased and distributed to the Filipino public are safe vaccines.)
“Hindi po katulad ng nangyari po sa Dengvaxia [Unlike what happened with Dengvaxia]. We don’t want to have another Dengvaxia scandal on our hands,” he added.
The DOH, during the Aquino administration, launched a national anti-dengue immunization program using the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia to contain the rising incidence of dengue in the country. Around 800,000 individuals, mostly children, received doses of Dengvaxia since the program was launched in 2016.
A year later, Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur issued a statement saying the vaccine may cause an increased risk of hospitalization for dengue and severe dengue to individuals who have not been previously infected by the dengue virus.
READ: Sanofi: Dengvaxia does not cause severe dengue
In December 2017, the Food and Drug Administration ordered the pullout of Dengvaxia from the Philippine market.
READ: FDA stops sale, distribution, marketing Dengvaxia
The Public Attorney’s Office conducted its own investigation on deaths being blamed on Dengvaxia. PAO said all bodies they examined had similar signs of internal bleeding, cranial bleeding, and enlarged organs.
Health officials, on the other hand, said no confirmed deaths could be directly attributed to the use of the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.
“We want to make sure that the (COVID-19) vaccines that we get are, in terms of efficacy, very good. Yung talagang high level of antibodies and resistance ang nabibigay niyan,” Zubiri went on.
Vaccine budget
The senator earlier said he would push for up to P5 billion funding for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, or the Bayanihan 2.
“Napakarami nang mga vaccines that are starting to come out in the market. We’re looking during the ‘ber’ months, starting September, October, November, marami na pong vaccines that will be able to go out on the market,” Zubiri went on.
(There are already a lot of vaccines that are starting to come out in the market. We’re looking during the ‘ber’ months, starting September, October, November many vaccines will be able to go out on the market.)
“Ang ayaw lang natin mangyari, mahuli tayo sa pagbili ng vaccines dahil buong mundo mamimili nito, baka mahuli tayo,” he added.
(What we don’t want to happen is for us to be last in purchasing these vaccines because the whole world would want to be the first to purchase.)
The Philippine government has already reached out to various COVID-19 vaccine developers from the United States, Taiwan, China, and the United Kingdom for possible purchase once vaccines have been found and become available.
Over 100 potential COVID-19 vaccines are currently in development worldwide.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will meet with Gamaleya Institute, the manufacturer of Russia’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, to discuss the possible participation of the Philippines in the vaccine’s clinical trials, according to the health department.
This, after Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier announced Moscow has approved and registered a vaccine for COVID-19.
