The Department of Health (DOH) said it is now investigating reports that some individuals have already taken coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine booster shots.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that booster shots are not yet recommended by local health experts as of now.
"Gusto natin malaman saan ba galing ang mga bakunang ito. Gusto natin rin po malaman kung ano po yung naging proseso kung bakit tayo nagkaroon nitong booster (We want to know where these vaccines came from. We also want to know what was the process that led us to have this booster)," said Vergeire in an interview with ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo on Wednesday, July 14.
Related story: COVID-19 vaccine booster shots not yet recommended by local experts, says DOH
In an online forum, DOH Health Promotion Bureau Director Beverly Ho said that the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program has certain standards that need to be followed.
“Meron po tayong standards na sinusunod (We have standards that are being followed) to make sure that the program is safe, efficacious, and more importantly, equitable,” said Ho during a forum hosted by the Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (PSEDM).
“Our job is to continuously remind our citizenry and the LGU (local government units) who are implementing the vaccination program and the merits of the two dose vaccination protocol that we currently have,” she said.
Ho reminded the public that there are still people who have yet to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot.
“Every additional vaccine that we take, in addition to what is due to us, is actually a vaccine less....may one person na hindi nakakakuha ng ganoong bakuna (there is one person who does not get such a vaccine),” she said.
“I think now, more than ever, all of us have to share the responsibility that hangga’t may isa sa atin na hindi pa nababakunahan (that as long as one of us hasn’t been vaccinated), it's always going to be a risk for the other people. So we have to share this responsibility equally,” she added.
During the Laging Handa press briefing, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo said that doctors administering booster shots to patients can face sanctions.
“Ang doktor ay bawal magreseta, mag inject, magbigay ng gamot na hindi rehistrado sa FDA. Ang importer may kaso din dahil bawal magpasok, magbenta ng gamot na hindi rehistrado (Doctors are not allowed to prescribe, inject, or give medicine that is not registered with the FDA. The importer also may face sanctions because it is not allowed to import or sell drugs that are not registered),” he said.
To note, all COVID-19 vaccines are still under emergency use authorization (EUA).
" EUA is not a marketing authorization or a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR). Hence, this EUA cannot be used as an authorization to market the vaccine commercially," the FDA said.