Vice President Leni Robredo, INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday called on the Department of Health (DOH) to clarify why at least 113,000 people did not return for their second dose.
Earlier, Dr. John Wong of the government’s Inter-Agency Task Force’s subtechnical working group on data analytics, estimated that around 1 million Filipinos—or almost half of those who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines—have missed out their second shot. The DOH later clarified that the number of “missing” vaccinees were only at 9 percent.
“Whether it’s 1 million or 113,000, it’s still a huge number,” Robredo said in her weekly radio show. “We need to fix the flaws in the system to ensure that those who got the first shot, get the second shot.”
Many have missed out on their second appointments because they fell sick, got exposed to a COVID-19-positive patient, or undergoing quarantine, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
Time is of the essence for the laggard Philippines, Robredo reminded the DOH, as the country has yet to catch up with the global vaccination rates while also racing against time to administer every vaccine before they expire.
4 vaccine brands
Moreover, the recent power outages across Luzon—triggered by the breakdown of four large power plants—could undermine the operations of the cold chain facilities that store the country’s vaccine supplies.
“We’re always running after the numbers, the supplies,” Robredo said. “Our rollout system needs to be efficient and people should come back for their second shot.”
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Sunday said nearly 600,000 people received their second dose of COVID-19 vaccines in Metro Manila, amid fears that a million Filipinos allegedly failed to complete their vaccination.
Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr., the MMDA chief, explained that the supply reserved for the second dose of those who have yet to complete their inoculation could only be used to vaccinate more people if there was an assurance that more supply would be delivered to the country at the soonest possible time.
“We always have supply reserved for the second dose. The only exception is when we are absolutely sure that there are more vaccines that will be coming in the country,” Abalos said in a radio interview.
The Philippines is currently using four vaccine brands—CoronaVac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Sputnik V—to inoculate those in the A1 to A3 priority groups, and these have different intervals between the first and second shots, ranging from 21 days to 12 weeks.
1.5M in NCR got 1st dose
Abalos said a total of 1.5 million Metro Manila residents received their first dose as of Sunday. He gave assurance tothe public that the national government was doing its best to ensure that the country had adequate supply of vaccines.
Despite reports that vaccines are nearing their expiration date, the MMDA chief also clarified that “not a single vaccine” had expired in Metro Manila, as confirmed by all 17 mayors.
Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Sunday said he had no information on whether President Duterte already took his second dose.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who administered the first dose of the Chinese Sinopharm to Mr. Duterte on May 3, did not reply to Inquirer’s text messages.
The 76-year-old chief executive took the Sinopharm, his preferred brand of the Chinese vaccine recommended to be given four weeks apart, even when it has yet to secure an emergency use authority in the Philippines.