CoronaVac not for elderly with acute, severe illnesses — FDA

VACCINE PRODUCTION A worker inspects a batch of vaccines produced at a Beijing factory built by Sinovac, one of 11 Chinese companies approved to carry out clinical trials of potential coronavirus vaccines, in this photo taken in September 2020. —AFP

MANILA, Philippines — Senior citizens with acute and severe illnesses, like those with uncontrolled hypertension, are excluded from receiving Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Thursday.

“‘Yung talagang kung meron kang acute illness,” FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a televised briefing when asked what factors would exclude a senior citizen from receiving CoronaVac.

“Ang gusto rin po nating bantayan yung may mga high blood at kung talagang uncontrolled hypertension halimbawa or mayroon kang hypertensive emergency, hindi po kayo pwedeng bakunahan.”

(We also want to monitor those who have high blood pressure and those who have uncontrolled hypertension or hypertensive emergency, you cannot be vaccinated.)

“Kung meron po talagang malubhang sakit, hindi po maaari yan,” he said.

(If they have a severe illness, it’s not allowed.)

Domingo said the Department of Health (DOH) will come up with guidelines for screening senior citizens before they are given CoronaVac.

The DOH and FDA have allowed the use of CoronaVac on senior citizens, considering the vaccine shortage and the need to protect the elderly amid high COVID-19 cases in the country.

Previously, the FDA did not prescribe CoronaVac on senior citizens, recommending to only administer it on clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years.

EDV