COVID booster coverage expands as 4.25 million doses expire

A resident of Bayambang town, Pangasinan province receives a booster shot against COVID-19 on Tuesday (July 26) as the Department of Health launched a regionwide booster vaccination drive. (Photo by Yolanda Sotelo)

MANILA, Philippines — Health authorities have expanded the coverage of the second COVID-19 vaccine booster to adults at least 50 years old and those age 18 to 49 with existing medical conditions.

The Department of Health (DOH) announced on Wednesday that the wider coverage of the second booster has passed the review of its advisory body, the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC).

Only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as second booster shots for the approved population groups, the DOH added.

To be eligible for a second booster shot, a vaccinated person must have received the first booster dose at least four months earlier.

“As vaccine immunity wanes over time, we are dedicated to helping our people remain protected against COVID-19. We are making it easier for as many people to avail (themselves) of the primary series and boosters, including second boosters,” said DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire.

The DOH has urged the public to get vaccinated and boosted when eligible, amid the increasing coronavirus infections in the past month.

Expired vaccines

The DOH decision, however, may have come a little too late.

Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion on Wednesday criticized the belated decision of the DOH and the HTAC, saying that more than 4.25 million COVID-19 vaccines, which cost P5.1 billion, have already expired because of the delay in allowing some segments of the population to get inoculated with second booster shots.

Concepcion said the private sector’s final batch of AstraZeneca totaling 623,680 doses would expire by the end of this month. The last batch of 864,700 Moderna vaccines expired on July 27.

The country has only Pfizer vaccines left for both first and second boosters, he added.

As early as April, Concepcion said they had already appealed to allow second booster vaccinations as millions of COVID-19 doses were about to expire.

“The lack of urgency on the part of the HTAC and the DOH at which the vaccination advisories, policies, and implementation progressed caused the bulk disposal of these hard-earned COVID-19 vaccines,” Concepcion lamented.

He said the expiration of the vaccines could have been avoided had the HTAC “simply listened and learned from the guidance of the CDC (US Center for Disease Control and Prevention) back in March when it recommended additional boosters for those as young as 50 years old.”

“We should consider the impact on the whole of society, the weight of the evidence coming from countries who have the studies and the data, the variants, and the challenges of rollout on the ground,” he said.

Lack of clear rules

Concepcion said that many countries around the world have already found that persons younger than 60 could benefit from second boosters, and suggested that the country follow the lead of those who have studied the merits of second boosters.

Concepcion stressed that the private sector “repeatedly asked” the government to allow it to administer the second boosters using the vaccines it bought.

“We were willing to get vaccinated. There was not even a need for a vaccine mandate,” he said.

“The expiry dates of these vaccines have already been extended and there is nothing more that can be done but to accept this preventable loss,” Concepcion added.

“We have to learn from this. I think what really contributed was the lack of clear rules on the vaccines: who is allowed to take the vaccines, and the ability of some bodies to move swiftly with science and the reality on the ground,” said Concepcion.

Moving forward, Concepcion said he was upbeat that the country’s pandemic response would be “more responsive” in line with “the directives coming from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.”

“I am hopeful that with President Marcos now making health and the economy among the priority measures of his government, we will see more positive developments in this area,” he said.

Concepcion added that factors like the return of in-person classes and the vulnerability of the workforce should also be considered in vaccine deployment.

Government units, he said, have to be attuned and should be part of the solutions in the coming days.

The booster dose is given after completing the primary series of two doses, except for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which is given as a single dose, to boost protection against serious illness or death from COVID-19.

At least 71.5 million individuals are already fully vaccinated with two doses, out of the target 78.1 million individuals or 70 percent of the country’s total population.

However, the uptake for a third or booster shot has been low. Out of 65.34 million eligible individuals, only 15.9 million have received the booster or third dose.

Second COVID-19 booster shots were made available in April for healthcare workers and the elderly who are at least 60 years old.

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