The Department of Health (DOH) has urged the public to only go to official coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination sites so as to ensure that the vaccines they get are legitimate, effective and safe.
"We must go only in official vaccination sites as these are the ones accredited and inspected by the government as meeting the standards on what vaccination sites should be," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a virtual forum Wednesday, April 28.
"Are the vaccines from the national or local government? If not, how can we assure that they are safe and effective versus COVID-19," she added.
Vergeire said this amid reports of individuals conducting private immunization drives.
She said unauthorized vaccination sites may pose problems on monitoring of the vaccinees.
"How are we going to track and monitor these patients for possible adverse effects following immunization," said Vergeire.
As of April 27, the DOH said, 3,415 vaccination sites are conducting COVID-19 vaccination in various sites in 17 regions.