All signs point to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and minors under 16-years-old not getting any COVID-19 vaccine shots in the foreseeable future due to safety concerns, said Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor Sunday, as the very promising Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is beginning to make waves abroad, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada where it has been approved for use.
“For now, the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE cannot be used in individuals younger than 16-years-old, based on our comprehensive review of the EUAs (emergency use authorizations) issued by pharmaceutical regulators in the three countries,” Defensor said.
“The use of the vaccine in pregnant women and mothers who are breastfeeding is also either totally not recommended, or being discouraged with stern warnings,” Defensor, a Health committee vice chairman, also said.
“We expect our own Food and Drug Administration here to affirm the same recommendations – once the vaccine gets an EUA here – simply because the safety and efficacy of the shots in children under 16, pregnant women, and mothers who are breastfeeding has yet to established by further clinical trials,” he said.
The House leadership said it's plausible that the same recommendations would apply to all newly developed COVID-19 vaccines that would eventually obtain EUAs in the Philippines.
Defensor’s assessment came just as the Philippines is expected to undergo a “baby boom” owing to lockdowns and strict stay-at-home orders as a result of the pandemic.
The Commission on Population and Development said the country will record two million pregnancies this year, some 214,000 of which are unplanned.
Defensor said that in Britain, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is “absolutely not recommended for use in pregnant women and mothers who are breastfeeding.”
“In fact, under their immunization guidelines, in all women of child-bearing age, pregnancy has to be ruled out first prior to vaccination. Women of child-bearing age are also being told to avoid pregnancy for at least two months after their second dose of the vaccine,” he said.
The vaccine is meant to be administered intramuscularly in the arm in a series of two doses 21 days apart.
“It is unknown whether the vaccine is excreted in human milk, and risks to newborns and infants cannot be excluded. Thus, in Britain, they are not recommending the shots during breastfeeding,” Defensor said.
Meanwhile, having a clear budget for the purchase of the coronavirus vaccines should be the government’s top priority to address the public health crisis, Vice President Leni Robredo’s spokesperson said Sunday.
Speaking on Robredo’s weekly radio show, Barry Gutierrez said he was surprised over the lack of a definite source of funds to immunize millions of Filipinos next year.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon had claimed the P72.5 billion earmarked for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines in the proposed 2021 national budget is like an “unfunded check.”
Under the P4.5-trillion national budget for next year, only P2.5 billion out of the P72.5 billion vaccine allocation is funded.
The remaining P70 billion, according to Drilon, is allocated under the “unprogrammed funds” provision of the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) which the Senate and the House ratified last week.
“‘Di ba dapat iyan ang una nating tinitiyak na mayroon tayong pondo lalo na itong bakuna. Narinig ko na sinabi ng Pangulo ito ilang beses na sa dulo ang pinakasolusyon lang sa COVID – bakuna,” he said.
(Shouldn’t the first thing we make sure is we have funds especially for the vaccines. I heard the President said this a few times the best solution to COVID at the end is vaccine)
“Kung anong pera mayroon tayo dapat diyan agad ilagay ‘yan. Bakit mo ilalagay sa ibang ahensya? Ito ‘yung pinakaimportante,” Gutierrez added.
(We should put whatever funds we have for that. Why would you allocate it to other agencies? This is the most important)
Robredo’s spokesman lamented the administration’s “lack of sense of urgency” in securing COVID-19 vaccines supply when there is a global race to buy the vaccines.
“Nagtataka ako bakit parang hindi pa tayo masyadong kumikilos (I’m wondering why we haven’t taken much action),” he said. “Hindi nga tayo nagbayad ng reservation fee (We haven’t paid yet the reservation fee).” (With a report from Raymund F. Antonio)