The chairperson of the country's Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) stressed on Wednesday, March 23, the importance of administering the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines for senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals.
VEP earlier approved the administration of the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines for the said vulnerable groups.
"Nakita po sa ibang mga datos, sa ibang countries na after the first booster, yung tinatawag nating third dose dito ay bumaba rin, nag-wane yung antibodies, although hindi pa gaano kababa sa general population (According to data from other countries, after the first booster, what we call the third dose here, the antibodies wane, although not as low for the general population)," VEP Chairperson Dr. Nina Gloriani said during the Laging Handa briefing.
"Titingnan natin doon sa mga immunocompromised, ang mga elderly, na baka mas mababa ito. Kaya natin inirerekomenda na magkaroon ng fourth dose para iangat ang proteksyon (We're going to look at the immunocompromised and the elderly who may have lower antibodies. So we're recommending a fourth dose as an added protection for them)," Gloriani added.
For the general population, Gloriani maintained that a fourth dose is not yet needed.
"Maaaring tingnan pa yan, kasi yung rest of the population ay yung general healthy population (We'll see first, because the rest of the population is the general healthy population)," she explained.
"Sa ngayon, talagang uunahin at ang importante ay mabigyan sila ng first booster, ito yung third dose (For now, we'll prioritize giving them the first booster, that's the third dose)," she added.
Gloriani reiterated that booster shots offer additional protection against variants of concern.
"Ang amin talagang sinasabi, ini-explain ay hindi enough ang dalawang doses... lalo na sa variants of concern like Omicron. Ang data shown sa kanila, lalo sa may mga edad ay makakatulong ang first booster man lang para maiangat ulit yung level ng protection. Ngayon hindi pa po tayo tapos sa Covid at sa variants (What we've been saying and explaining is that two doses are not enough, especially for variants of concern like Omicron. The data shown to them, especially for the elderly, can help the first booster and raise the level protection. We're not yet done with Covid and its variants)," she added.