COVID-19 vaccine brands should no longer be announced to avoid crowding in vaccination sites, a Department of Health official said Wednesday after reports that people rushed to sites where Pfizer jabs from the U.S. were being administered.
As more doses are expected to become available to the Philippines, National Vaccination Operations Center chair Health Usec. Myrna Cabotaje said people should get the COVID-19 vaccine made available to them to ensure order.
“Maybe one of the strategies that can be made is hindi na i-a-announce kung anong bakuna ang ibibigay. Kung gusto ninyo magpabakuna, pumunta kayo sa ganitong facility o kaya vaccination site tapos kung ano ‘yung bakuna na available ‘yun ang dapat kunin nila,” she said in a public briefing.
"...Noong nag-announce na may Pfizer, everybody wanted to use Pfizer. In our general principle, Kung anong bakuna ang available dapat kunin mo na, that will help the flow," she said.
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Cabotaje explained that only health workers were initially allowed to choose vaccine brands since China's Sinovac jabs, which were first to be available in the Philippines, were not recommended for medical frontliners in the past.
“Other than that dapat wala nang right of refusal. Kung ano ‘yung vaccine kunin mo, kapag hindi mo kukunin, then you go down the end of the line,” she said.
"So, ang kunin mong bakuna kung ano iyong available na bakuna at that time that you are scheduled to go to the health center," she added.
The Philippines is rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination program using jabs from China's Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Russia's Sputnik V, and Pfizer-BioNTech.
The country is working to expand its vaccination program to economic frontliners by the end of May, vaccine czar. Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. had said.
The country is targeting to vaccinate at least 50 million people this year.
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