FILE PHOTO: A nurse fills up syringes with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines in this file photo in 2022. REUTERS
Up to 40 million doses of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines will be sufficient to protect priority groups as there is “no urgent need” to give boosters to majority of the country’s population.
House health panel vice chair Rep. Angelica Natasha Co said the Department of Health “need not acquire too many stocks of bivalent vaccines” targeting specific COVID-19 variants.
“I believe around 30 million to 40 million doses will do. There is no longer any urgent need to give boosters to majority of the population, factoring in the latest World Health Organization’s guidance on the lesser need to provide boosters to those at medium risk,” she said on Friday.
READ: DOH adviser: Bivalent vaccines to give ‘higher’ protection vs severe COVID-19
The lawmaker said bivalent jabs should be acquired for health-care front-liners, the immunocompromised, persons with disabilities and special needs, senior citizens, working adults, college and high school students who received one or two booster vaccines, young children who received primary doses, Filipinos and foreigners on outbound travel from the Philippines.
“Bivalent boosters should be optional or voluntary for all working adults, including essential workers, who are not within any of the categories stated,” Co said.
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