The city government of Olongapo continues to administer the single-shot Janssen vaccine against COVID-19 that benefits elderly residents and those with ailments. (Photo courtesy of Olongapo City Information Center)
MANILA, Philippines — Some local government units (LGUs) might have been confused with the vaccine allocation from the Covax Facility, leading them to use the donated Janssen COVID-19 vaccines to the non-elderly, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative to the Philippines, earlier noted that the recently donated Janssen vaccines from Covax had been given to persons with comorbidity despite an advisory to prioritize the elderly.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they are “trying to look at different factors why some of the citizens were given the J&J vaccine in spite of them not being included in the A2 sector.”
“There were specific issuances to this, that these should be given to senior citizens especially in highly-burdened areas. So tinitingnan natin, maaari rin kasing nakoconfuse na ang ating local governments sa dami ng klase ng bakuna natin,” she told ABS-CBN News Channel.
(We are looking at this. Local governments might have been confused because of the several brands of vaccines we have.)
“Iba-iba ang guidelines syempre sa bawat bakuna, and ang isa kasing general understanding ng local government is when it is donated coming from Covax Facility, they should be primarily used for A1, A2, A3 and A5 sectors,” she said.
(Each vaccine has different guidelines, and one general understanding of local governments is that when the donated vaccines are from the Covax Facility, they should be primarily used for the A1, A2, A2 and A5 sectors.)
A1 is the priority group for workers in the healthcare sector, A2 is for senior citizens, A3 is for persons with comorbidity, and A5 is for the indigent population.
“So itong J&J (Johnson & Johnson) noong dumating iyan, ang usapan ibigay natin ‘yan sa senior citizens kasi one dose lang at madali tayong makakapagprotect ng seniors and that was what we did. Siguro pagdating sa ground, nandoon ang confusion because when it is donated from Covax, you can use it from A1 to A3 and A5,” Vergeire explained.
(When the J&J vaccines arrived, our consensus was that this will be provided to senior citizens because it will only require one dose and we can easily protect more seniors. That was what we did. However, confusion might have happened on the ground because when the vaccines are donated from Covax, you can use it from A1 to A3 and A5.)
Data from Malacañang on Friday showed that a total of 19.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country. Over 7.8 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. The government is aiming to vaccinate around 70 million Filipinos to reach herd immunity against COVID-19.