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MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The general population could now get the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Ted Herbosa said Friday.
According to Herbosa, the DOH鈥檚 executive committee (Execom) decided to make the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine available to the public due to the slow consumption of initial doses of bivalent vaccine, which targets specific variants of COVID-19 like the more transmissible Omicron.
He also admitted that the vaccine鈥檚 supply is declining as the shots are nearing its 鈥渆xtended shelf life鈥� expiration.
READ: DOH to 鈥榚xtend shelf life鈥� of COVID jabs near expiry
鈥淏ago ito, last week lang namin dinecide ito sa Execom kasi nga mabagal ang uptake,鈥� Herbosa said in an interview over radio DWPM.
(This is new; we decided on it at the Execom last week because the uptake is slow.)
鈥淒ati healthcare worker at senior citizen, so nag-decide kami, sige lahat na ng gusto magpa-vaccine ng booster, pwede na,鈥� he also said.
(It used to be just the healthcare workers and senior citizens, so we decided to let everyone who wants to get a booster vaccine go ahead.)
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This means the general population could avail of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine, Herbosa added when asked further.
鈥淥o, ako ang tingin ko, basta available ibibigay namin kasi paubos na, pa-expire na siya eh.鈥�
(Yes, I think so, as long as it鈥檚 available, we鈥檒l give it because the supply is going down, it鈥檚 about to expire.)
The COVID-19 bivalent vaccine was donated by Lithuania in June and considered expired on July 31, but Herbosa asserted that the manufacturer extended its shelf life until August 31.
Herbosa said those who received their primary vaccines with one booster shot could use the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine.
The DOH chief also said that only 38 percent of the more than 390,000 doses of COVID-19 bivalent vaccine were utilized as of July.
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