By Christine Fabro and Pearl Anne Gumapos
In December 2019, an outbreak of a new disease was first documented in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China. The illness was later called COVID-19. As of now, the novel coronavirus that causes it has spread across six continents and over 100 countries in the whole world, including the Philippines.
COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Studies show that it is spread from one person to others via droplets from infected people, often during coughing or sneezing. Globally, COVID-19 has infected 165,772,430 individuals and has caused 3,437,545 deaths as of May 22.
As of May 22, there have been 1,171,403 confirmed cases in the Philippines, according to data from the Department of Health (DOH).
The benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks
Getting vaccinated may prevent contracting COVID-19 or becoming seriously ill due to this disease. It will also prevent the spread of the virus to others.
As of May 23, a total of 4,097,425 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the Philippines.
Who can get vaccinated against COVID-19?
The vaccines that are currently available are safe for individuals aged 18-65 years old.
Side effects of vaccines
Short-term and long-term side effects
Once you get vaccinated, one might feel pain, redness or swelling where the shot was given. Fever, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, nausea and vomiting, and swelling lymph nodes may also manifest.
After getting vaccinated, you will be monitored for 15 minutes to observe any immediate reactions. Most of the listed side effects may show within the first three days after vaccination and last only one to two days.
It is not yet clear whether the vaccines currently available have long-term side effects because clinical trials only started in the summer of 2020.
The different types of vaccines
There are three approaches to designing a vaccine:
The genetic approach (nucleic acid vaccine)
In the genetic approach, a nucleic acid vaccine uses a section of genetic material that provides the instructions for specific proteins and not the whole microbe. The DNA and RNA are the instructions our cells use to make proteins. DNA is first turned into a messenger RNA, which is then used as the blueprint for making specific proteins.
mRNA vaccines
These are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called a “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.
This new technology was used to develop the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
The subunit approach
The subunit approach uses very specific parts or subunits of a virus or bacterium that the immune system needs to recognize. It does not contain the whole microbe and neither does it use a safe virus as a vector. These specific parts may be either proteins or sugars.
An example of this is Novavax. There’s also whooping cough and hepatitis B vaccines.
Inactivated vaccine
Inactive vaccines are made by taking the disease-carrying virus and inactivating or killing it using chemicals, heat, or radiation. This approach requires special laboratory facilities in order to allow the virus or bacterium to grow safely, a long production time, and will likely require two or three doses to be administered.
Sinovac’s, Sinopharm’s, and Bharat Biotech’s are inactivated vaccines.
Live-attenuated vaccine
A live-attenuated vaccine uses a living but weakened version of the virus. Examples of this type of vaccine are the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines.
The live-attenuated approach uses technology similar to the inactivated vaccine. These vaccines may not be suitable for people with compromised immune systems.
Examples of available live, attenuated vaccines against viral infections include measles, mumps, rubella, cowpox, yellow fever, influenza, and oral polio vaccine.
Viral vector vaccine
The viral vector vaccine makes use of a safe virus to deliver specific sub-parts, called proteins, of the germ of interest so that it may trigger an immune response without causing disease.
Examples of a viral vector vaccine are AstraZeneca, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), and the Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) vaccine. The Ebola vaccine is one as well.
COVID-19 vaccine supply in the Philippines
As of May 18, a total of 7,779,050 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in the Philippines from different vaccine manufacturers.
Five million doses of Sinovac vaccines have so far arrived in the Philippines, one million of which were donated while four million were procured from the Chinese vaccine manufacturer. About 2,556,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines were also donated to the country, as well as 193,050 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, while 30,000 Sputnik V vaccine doses were government-procured.
Read more: Over 7 millions jabs distributed across PH
- Pfizer-BioNTech
Approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with an emergency use authorization (EUA) on January 14, 2021, the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived in the Philippines on May 10 totaling 193,050 doses.
The doses were donated by the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility and are being administered to priority groups A1 to A3 or health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities. Once a deal that will secure 40 million doses is signed, this COVID-19 vaccine can be the largest COVID-19 vaccine procurement so far.
- AstraZeneca
Approved by the FDA for EUA on January 28, 2021, AstraZeneca vaccines make up 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
Previously, the DOH adopted the recommendation of the FDA to temporarily suspend the use of AstraZeneca for individuals aged below 60 years old, after recent reports of very rare cases of vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT). However, vaccination was resumed on May 7, 2021 following the recommendations of FDA and the DOH All Experts Group on Vaccines.
- Sputnik V
Approved by the FDA for EUA March 19, 2021, this vaccine is unlike other COVID-19 vaccines as the first and second doses contain two different components.
Component I includes a recombinant adenoviral vector that uses a serotype 26 human adenovirus carrying a SARS-CoV-2 protein S gene, while Component II includes a serotype 5 human adenoviral vector carrying a SARS-CoV-2 protein S gene.
The immunological properties and safety of the vaccine have been studied in various clinical trials in adult volunteers of both sexes over the age of 18. To date, the Philippines has received 30,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines manufactured by the Gamaleya Institute.
- Sinovac
Approved by the FDA for EUA on February 22, 2021, this product is manufactured by inoculation of SARS-CoV-2-virus (CZ02 Strain) into African green monkey kidney cells (vero cells), then the virus in incubated, harvested, inactivated, concentrated, purified, and adsorbed by aluminum hydroxide. This is suitable for people aged 18 years and over that are susceptible to viruses.
The Philippines has received five million doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, the Chinese company’s largest delivery to the Southeast Asian country to date.
Other vaccines approved by the FDA for emergency use:
- Janssen by Johnson & Johnson
Approved by the FDA for EUA April 19, 2021, Janssen vaccine was said to be 67% effective in preventing moderate to severe critical COVID occurring at least 14 days after vaccination, and 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe/critical disease at least 28 days after vaccination. It was manufactured by Janssen Biotech Inc., a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson.
- Moderna
Approved by the FDA for EUA on May 5, 2021, Moderna is a multidose vial which contains 10 doses of 0.5 mL per dose. This is manufactured by Moderna Biotech Spain in Madrid, Spain and is suitable for those 18 years of age and older.
When are more doses arriving in the Philippines?
Novavax: Some 13 million doses are coming in by the third and fourth quarters this year.
Moderna: 13 million doses procured by the government and seven million procured by the private sector are expected to arrive by the third and fourth quarters this year.
AstraZeneca: More doses are scheduled to arrive in June until the first quarter of 2022.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden announced that the exportation of at least 20 million doses of Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines will begin by the end of next month, along with the 60 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines doses that he previously planned to donate to other countries.
Meanwhile, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. said at the Laging Handa public briefing on May 18 that they are in close communication with the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in the United States.
Galvez said Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose “Babe” Romualdez is now in negotiations with key officials of the US government for vaccine donations. -jlo
Read more: US President Biden: Addt’l 20 million vaccine doses to be shared abroad
