No waiver needed for those who want to be vaccinated vs COVID-19- DILG
By Chito Chavez
The document that those who wanted to avail of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines were asked to sign is not a waiver but an informed consent which states that all of those who would be vaccinated were properly screened.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya made the clarification amid insinuations that the document is a form of authorization from the vacinees that that they will not hold those inoculated them with vaccine responsible for anything that would happen to them.
Malaya said the informed consent was based on the Department of Health (DOH) memorandum 21-0123. He added that the informed consent is only an Emergency Use Authority (EUA) signifying that those concerned were appropriately screened.
He added that those wishing to be immunized should disclose if they have any allergies while being informed by the health workers of the benefits and risks of the vaccine.
Specifically, the health workers will explain the risk of the adverse effects. Vaccinated persons having adverse effects will immediately be rushed to the hospital.
Malaya’s clarification was made after he was asked if the signing of waivers is the proper practice for those wishing to be immunized and if the local government units (LGUs) have no liability in case the injected person experiences adverse effects.
The DILG official stressed that the concerned parties have the right under the COVAX compensation fund and are provided with a health package under PhilHealth in case they are afflicted with serious adverse effects.
"These are the essence of the informed consent," said Malaya.
With the estimated two million vaccinated individuals, Malaya noted there was a low adverse effect rate. (Chito A. Chavez)