DOH advises individuals jabbed with other vaccines to wait 14 days before taking COVID-19 shot

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MANILA, Philippines — Individuals who have received vaccines against other diseases should only get their COVID-19 vaccine shot 14 days after their latest inoculation, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

“Kapag nakapagpabakuna kayo ng kahit na anong klaseng bakuna aside from COVID-19 vaccine, kailangan natin ng interval na 14 days lang naman, labing-apat na araw, pwede na kayong magpabakuna pagkatapos,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

(If you have received any type of vaccine aside from a COVID-19 vaccine, you just need to wait 14 days before you can get the COVID-19 vaccine shot.)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “the vaccine series should routinely be administered alone, with a minimum interval of 14 days before or after administration of any other vaccine.”

The CDC said this is because of insufficient data on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines administered simultaneously with other vaccines.

Meanwhile, for COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac Biotech, the interval between the first and second dose is 28 days, while for AstraZeneca, the allowed interval is from four to 12 weeks, according to DOH.

The country has so far administered a total of 1,139,644 COVID-19 vaccine doses as of April 11, according to Malacañang. Of this number, 1,007,356 were given as the first dose and 132,288 people were provided as the second dose.

EDV