MANILA, Philippines — Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday said he is open to the idea of giving booster shots to health workers who received the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine amid concerns on its effectiveness.
This, after reports said the antibodies given by the China-made jabs “wanes” after about six months.
“Sa akin, wala naman pong problema. Ang inaano ko nga rin po, if I’m the one being asked, kailangan po talaga natin bigyan ng full protection ang health workers,” Galvez said in the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum when asked if he is open to giving booster shots to health workers who got the Sinovac jab.
(To me, there’s no problem. If you ask me, we really need to give full protection to the health workers.)
“We would like to request yung WHO [World Health Organization] na iba ang consideration natin sa healthcare workers considering sila ang most vulnerable at sila tataaman,” he added.
(We would like to request WHO to consider our healthcare workers since they are the most vulnerable and prone to get COVID-19.)
The WHO has said there is no need for COVID-19 booster shots for now since the most vulnerable people worldwide should be fully vaccinated first.
Galvez said they are also awaiting the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and the vaccine expert panels’ (VEP) approval of COVID-19 booster shots.
“We are estimating we will have it by October or November,” Galvez said, referring to the decision of the NITAG and the VEP.
Indonesia and Thailand have already allowed the administration of a third shot of either the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to persons fully vaccinated with the Sinovac jab.