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DOH assures no AstraZeneca vaccines will be wasted

Philippines | National

DOH assures no AstraZeneca vaccines will be wasted

By Analou de Vera

The Department of Health (DOH) assured the public that all AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines will be administered to its intended recipients before these vaccines expire in May.

“So yung dumating po sa atin, iyan po yung expiry sa end ng May pero nakaayos na yung strategies natin (The vaccines that were delivered to us will expire by the end of May but our strategies are already in place ),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Friday, March 12.

Vergeire said that the interval between the first and second doses for AstraZeneca vaccine is about four to 12 weeks.

“Nacompute na po namin iyan, aabot po yung intervals natin for the second dose with the current doses that we have (We have already computed that--- the intervals will be reached for the second dose with the current doses that we have),” she added.

Vergeire said most vaccines for COVID-19 have a shelf-life of up to six months.

“Kasi alam po ng mga manufacturers ay evolving yung ating situation at maaaring kailangan nilang baguhin o kaya ay iayos itong mga bakuna (The manufacturers know that our situation is evolving and they may need to change or tweak these vaccines),” she said.

The Philippines received a total of 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through the World Health Organization (WHO)-led COVAX facility--global initiative aimed at securing equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

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