The Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) vaccine expert panel (VEP) said Thursday, July 22, that all available coronavirus disease (COVID-vaccines in the country do not have live virus and will not in any way result in viral shedding.
VEP chief Dr. Nina Gloriani said none of the COVID-19 vaccines approved in the country have live virus, even as she asked the public to check updates on COVID-19 jabs from national health authorities and other “reliable sources” after a video showing that that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine results in viral shedding went viral.
“Ang viral shedding ay mangyayari kapag nagkaroon kayo ng infection so ibig sabihin nandun ang virus at nagmumultipy sya so yung pagdami nya yun yung magshed ka ng virus, that will happen pag mayroon kayong infection pero kung ang pinag-uusapan natin ang bakuna, itong mga bakuna against COVID-19 wala ditong buhay or even live attenuated o weakened virus na puwedeng magshed nung virus (Viral shedding will happen when you have an infection so it means that the virus is there and it multiplies so it multiplies that you shed the virus that will happen when you have an infection but if we are talking about the vaccine, these vaccines against COVID-19 there is no live or even live attenuated or weakened virus that can shed the virus),” she said in an interview over TeleRadyo.
She said the COVID-19 vaccines produced by China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm and India’s Bharat Biotech contain dead or inactivated virus.
“Kailangan maingat tayo sa pagpili sa kung kanino tayo maniniwala nandyan naman ang DOH website, ang Resbakuna, ang World Health Organization at marami pang reliable sources. ‘Wag tayong basta maniniwala, kung talagang may agam agam magtanong din tayo (We need to be careful in choosing whom we believe, the DOH website, the Resbakuna, the World Health Organization and many other reliable sources are there. Let’s not just believe, if we have doubts, let’s ask),” she said.
Gloriani encouraged the public to receive two doses of COVID-19 vaccines so that they will have protection against the severe form of the viral disease.
“Ang importante nakadalawa tayong vaccines, dalawang doses kasi mas mataas ang protection kapag nakadalawa versus isa. Pag isa lang bakuna sa inyo nasa 30 percent protection, kapag nakadalawa kayo aabot yan ng mga 70 to 80 percent. at ang protection more against severe form so hindi kayo magkakaron ng severe form (The important thing is that we have two vaccines, because two doses have higher protection than one dose. If you only receive one vaccine, the protection is at 30 percent, if you have two it will be about 70 to 80 percent and the protection is more against severe form so you will not have severe form),” she said.
Related story: https://mb.com.ph/2021/06/28/dosts-expert-panel-get-your-second-covid-19-vaccine-shots-as-soon-as-possible/
She said with the emergence of more transmissible COVID-19 variants, the public should strictly observe minimum public health precautions to avoid the spread of the virus.