Vaccine experts said Thursday those who have received COVID-19 vaccines may need booster shots to give added protection against variants of concern.
“I actually foresee that happening. After what we call the primary series — the two doses of Sinovac or AstraZeneca or any of the incoming vaccines, we need another dose or a booster shot,” Dr. Nina Gloriani, who heads the country’s vaccine expert panel for COVID-19 vaccines, said at a forum organized by the Philippine Medical Association, the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination and the Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Association of the Philippines.
Gloriani said the booster shot “may not be the original one (vaccine) but something that may cover the variants as well.”
Gloriani said multivalent COVID-19 vaccines or those made to immunize against two or more variants will be needed in the future.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, a vaccine advocate who now heads the National Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee (NAEFIC), said COVID-19 vaccines would probably be like the flu vaccines now, given every year and contained antigens for different strains.
“As time goes by we do not know yet how many variants we will have. It will be quite difficult to treat and therefore has to be included in the vaccine,” she said.
No delivery of purchased jabs yet
President Rodrigo Duterte, in a televised pre-recorded briefing Wednesday, admitted none of the COVID-19 vaccines bought by the government had been delivered, saying the first batch of the ordered vaccines would likely arrive on March 29.
“Where are the vaccines? None. There are [vaccines], but they’re not yet paid for by the people. Just to complete the story: There are none yet and up to this time, there is no vaccine that we bought that has arrived. I pray it will happen within the month of March,” Duterte said.
The Philippines’ current vaccine supply consists of donations — Sinovac’s CoronaVac from China and AstraZeneca from the COVAX facility of the World Health Organization.
Wasted doses
The Department of Health is investigating reports that around 7,500 of COVID-19 vaccine doses were wasted due to freezer issues while they were being transported in Bicol.
Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire made the disclosure replying to a comment of Senator Nancy Binay as regards the wasted AstraZeneca doses.
“There has been this investigation or query that has been done in the region where the transportation issue of the vaccines occurred. We are investigating,” Vergeire said.
Binay said a third-party logistics hired by the DOH had a faulty thermometer, which the DOH confirmed but said the vaccines are in “usable condition.”
Mothers can breastfeed
Mothers can still breastfeed their babies even if they test positive for COVID-19 or have mild symptoms.
“Yes, even if you’re COVID-positive or have mild symptoms, you can still and actually should breastfeed your baby, and for the same reason, you might transmit antibodies to your baby, all the more that you should not be separated,” Dr. Mianne Silvestre, who is part of the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19, said.
“Breast milk itself has not been demonstrated to transmit the virus… The transmission is still the same as us, respiratory, aerosols, and droplets,” Silvestre said.
Full capacity
The National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) in Quezon City said on Thursday that its COVID-19 designated beds already reached full capacity as it records more health workers sickened with the severe viral ailment.
“This is to inform the general public that the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, has reached full capacity in the utilization of the designated beds for COVID-19 patients as of today, 25 March 2021,” read the advisory posted on its official social media page.
The leading kidney transplant center also said infection rate among its frontline personnel has been increasing in the last two weeks.
At the same time, the Lung Center of the Philippines and the Philippine General Hospital have seen increasing admissions of patients with coronavirus in recent weeks as infections rose, especially in Metro Manila.
“We have requested at least 30 more nurses from the DOH since last week but it’s not easy to get those manpower. I could imagine all hospitals are trying to get more manpower,” LCP spokesperson Dr. Norberto Francisco told ANC.