The Food and Drug Administration recommended Thursday stopping the inoculation of Filipinos age 60 and below using AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine following reports linking the jab to blood clots.
FDA Director General Eric Domingo said he recommended to the Department of Health the suspension of the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for the said age group.
"We asked DOH na kung mayroon pa pong mga natitirang AstraZeneca vaccines siguro ay huwag muna natin gamitin sa mga people age 60 and below until we get clearer evidence and guidance from the WHO at sa ating mga experts," Domingo said in a televised briefing.
Domingo however clarified that the Philippines has not reported any case of blood clotting from the use of AstraZeneca jabs.
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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had recommended that a dangerous type of blood clot should be listed as a "very rare side effect" of the AstraZeneca jab.
Questions on whether there are links between the jabs and the highly unusual blood clots among those getting them have been raised in recent weeks particularly in Europe.
The EMA however has been reluctant to draw a straight cause-and-effect line between the vaccine and the rare blood clots. The risk of death, based on data as of March 22, is one in 1.4 million.
Supplies of AstraZeneca vaccines already ran out in the Philippines and additional jabs are expected to come in the next month. This, according to Domingo, would provide local health experts enough time to review guidelines for its use.
"Ang susunod na ine-expect ay within one month pa. So, that will give us time to study the evidence and to see kung magkakaroon tayo ng panibagong guidance," Domingo said.
-with a report from Agence France-Presse
