Seniors’ representative urges DOH to hasten flu vaccine shots

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has called on health offices across the country to speed up the administration of flu vaccines for senior citizens, amid the cooling season.

United Senior Citizens party list Rep. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay urged the Department of Health (DOH) and local government health offices not to become complacent even as influenza-like illnesses (ILI) continue to improve.

Recent data from the DOH showed cases of ILIs from Jan. 1, 2024, to Sept. 14, 2024, are 15 percent lower at 117,372 compared with the same period last year.

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ILIs are a group of illnesses with common symptoms that include fever, cough, sore throat, colds, body aches and headaches.

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“It’s a positive sign that cases are decreasing, but we must not let our guard down. Any delay or rejection could leave seniors vulnerable, especially during the holiday season when gatherings increase the spread of illness,” she said in a statement.

Start of ‘amihan’

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa earlier warned that respiratory infections, such as common cough and colds, ILIs and even COVID-19, may increase now that the weather is getting cooler amid the start of the northeast monsoon or “amihan” season in November.

After facing delays since June, the DOH was able to finally procure 5.1 million doses of influenza polyvalent vaccine for senior citizens under the National Immunization Program.

On Oct. 31, the DOH awarded the P984.8-million contract to the joint venture of Zuellig Pharma Corp. and Interphil Laboratories Inc. The winning bid was just 60 percent of the approved budget for the contract.

Under Republic Act No. 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, the DOH is tasked to annually procure vaccines against influenza for indigent senior citizens.

These were then redistributed to local government health centers that are tasked to administer the vaccines for free to their poor senior residents.

Vaccinations generally are conducted in the third or fourth quarter of the year before the flu season, which starts from October and peaks during the colder months of January and February.

But the vaccination coverage among the elderly has been low, even if the government currently provides them for free, due to vaccine hesitancy and their inaccessibility to seniors.

Based on data, only 36.3 percent of adults aged 60 and older received a vaccine against influenza, which was still lower than the World Health Organization’s target of 75 percent.