The Department of Health (DOH) said the first batch of bivalent Covid-19 vaccines will be administered first to healthcare workers and senior citizens.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said bivalent omicron-targeted jabs can be given to those vaccinated four months after their last Covid-19 vaccines were given.
“Gagamitin muna natin siya dun sa mas priority natin dahil hindi siya mahuhusto para sa lahat nung A1 to A3. So, we are now prioritizing A1 and A2 population,” she said in a press briefing.
The health department has secured 1,002,000 million doses of Pfizer’s bivalent vaccines from COVAX facility, the United Nations-backed international vaccine-sharing scheme.
Bivalent vaccines are modified vaccines that attack the omicron variant and the original form of the virus.
“They have committed that in about 3-4 weeks dadating ang mga bakuna natin. Hopefully, ito ay mangyari,” Vergeire said.
The DOH has also completed the operational guidelines on the use of the bivalent vaccines.
“Kailangan na lang lamang pong mapirmahan ng mga execom members for us to issue this department memorandum so our local governments can prepare already,” Vergeire said.
— Ronald Espartinez