Negros Occ still awaits DOH’s order if expired AstraZeneca jabs can still be used

FILE PHOTO: Vials labeled “Astra Zeneca COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo, in this illustration photo taken March 14, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

BACOLOD CITY — The Negros Occidental provincial government is still waiting for instructions from the Department of Health (DOH) on whether the 14,620 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines that expired on November 30 can still be used.

The 14,620 doses remain in storage at the provincial government’s cold room on instructions of the DOH, said Dr. Claudelia Josefa Pabillo, Provincial Health Office cold chain coordinator.

Whether the vaccines can still be used will depend on an emergency use authority issued by the Food and Drug Administration and instructions from the DOH, she said.

The expired vaccines were part of 45,300 AstraZeneca doses that arrived in Negros Occidental on November 8.

Pabillo said they distributed the vaccines with shorter shelf lives first but not all of the AstraZeneca doses that arrived on November 8 were used because there were some recipients who refused to be vaccinated with them.

“Some vaccines can be used beyond labeled expiration dates as long as they are kept in a proper storage facility,” Pabillo said.