The management of a hospital in the National Capital Region (NCR) that administered second Covid-19 boosters to non-immunocompromised individuals said it has “unintentionally misinterpreted” the guidelines given by the Department of Health (DOH).
On Monday, April 25, the DOH started rolling out the second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot for immunocompromised individuals only.
The hospital reportedly jabbed healthcare workers and senior citizens with the second Covid-19 booster shot.
“Hospital management has explained that they unintentionally misinterpreted guidelines. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration)-approved amended EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) states that senior citizens, front-line healthcare workers, and ICPs may be administered with a 2nd booster,” the DOH statement released on Tuesday, April 26, read.
To prevent another similar incident, the DOH and National Vaccination Operations Center or NVOC are currently coordinating with concerned health care facilities and vaccination sites.
“The facilities in question have now since returned to administering boosters to (immunocompromised individuals) only,” it said.
It is worth noting that the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) is still reviewing evidence for senior citizens and healthcare workers before they can be given second booster jabs.
Per the DOH guidelines, immunocompromised individuals aged 18 years old and above are “eligible to be given with second Covid-19 booster doses, either homologous or heterologous.”
These individuals are those with immunodeficiency state, HIV, active cancer or malignancy, transplant recipients, undergoing steroid treatment, patients with poor prognosis/bed-ridden patients, and “other conditions of immunodeficiency as certified by a physician.”
The Covid-19 vaccine brands that were approved for use as second booster doses were Pfizer, Moderna, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and AstraZeneca.