The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday agreed with the recommendations of some health experts to review the use of the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine amid the continuous surge in dengue cases in the country.
Based on the data from the DOH, dengue cases from January to June of this year have reached 64,797, a 90% increase from 34,074 in 2021 covering the same period.
In an interview with another media outlet, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the department is open to further study the use of the vaccine, but noted that it does not have a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) in the country.
"We just need to further study if there is specific and completed evidence already at this point, completed trial at this point that this vaccine can protect our population," she added.
"Our government will always be open to technology but it has to be at that stage where we can always say there is completed evidence," she continued.
It was in 2016, under the administration of the late president Noynoy Aquino when the Dengvaxia vaccination program for young students began. However, the public was hounded with fear after some students fell ill and eventually died after receiving their doses.
The product registration of the vaccine was first suspended in December 2017 after Sanofi announced the results of its clinical data analysis which found that Dengvaxia is riskier for people not previously infected by the virus.
The DOH previously said there is no solid proof to link Dengvaxia to the fatalities.
