The World Health Organization (WHO) reminded that the prioritization list for vaccination should be followed in using the AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility.
According to WHO Country Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the vaccines from COVAX aim to protect those who are included in the vulnerable sector such as the healthcare workers.
“We urge the Department of Health and all the partners engaged in the rollout of the vaccines to follow this prioritization so that we don’t impact and jeopardize future deliveries of vaccines through the COVAX facility to the Philippines and we can ensure a smooth delivery of all the earmarked vaccines to the Philippines.”
As part of the allocation for the Philippines, 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are set to arrive in the country under the COVAX facility that was created to ensure that no country is left behind in acquiring the vaccines against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The WHO stated that the delivery of the additional 4.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine will be in May.
The international organization also disclosed that experts are still studying if a booster shot is needed to fight against the COVID-19 South African variant.
“We still believe that the Astrazeneca vaccine is effective even in places where you have a large proportion of cases which could be attributed to B.1.351 variant or the South African variant.”
The said vaccine has been given an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 28. Report from Mark Fetalco
