The Department of Health (DOH) reiterated that the administration of booster shots or third dose of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines is still not allowed in the Philippines.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that if a person was able to receive an unauthorized booster shot and experienced adverse effects, the government will not be held accountable.
“Pagka nagkaroon po, huwag naman sana, aberya o kaya (If there will be, I hope not, untoward reactions this booster doses, government cannot be held accountable,” she said on Friday, Nov. 12.
“The ones accountable will be the ones who gave you those vaccines and who have sourced out these vaccines. Second, you are violating national protocols. Kung saan ang boosters hindi pa ho kasama sa ating mga guidelines (The use of boosters is not yet on our guidelines) ” she added.
Vergeire said that the government has yet to issue guidelines on the use of booster shots and additional doses.
“We just want to remind everybody to wait for these emergency use authority guidelines of the national government,” said Vergeire.
The Health official said that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still evaluating the application of vaccine developers for their respective booster doses.
To note, the FDA already received applications of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Sputnik for the approval of their booster doses for emergency use.
“The FDA and Vaccine Experts Panel are just completing their evidence for evaluation. We are also waiting for the completed WHO SAGE recommendation, which is the last piece of evidence that we need so we can provide appropriate recommendations,” said Vergeire.
Vergeire said that it remains uncertain when the government will start providing booster doses and additional shots.
“We cannot say when is the specific date on when it will start,” she said.
Meanwhile, Vergeire also reminded the public to be cautious when giving statements such as COVID-19 cases may increase if booster shots will not be administered.
“Kailangan lang natin intindihin na base sa ebidensya at base sa mga pag aaral na ginagawa ng mga eksperto (We just need to understand that based on the evidence and based on studies done by experts) and even base from the experiences now happening in other countries where there are again increases in their cases --the unvaccinated ang nakakapag cause ng pagtaas ng kaso sa isang bansa (causes a spike in cases in a country),” she said.
“May we call on all of those groups stating these kinds of statements to be very careful and cautious because the public is getting confused. We should all base our statements on science," she added.