The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked Department of Health (DOH) Sec. Francisco Duque III to lift the restrictions on the use of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) vaccine developed by United Kingdom based company AstraZeneca.
FDA Director General Eric Domingo said on Thursday, April 15, that the World Health Organization and local experts recommended the continuous use of the vaccine since the benefits outweigh the known and potential risks.
The DOH adopted the recommendation of the FDA on April 8 to halt the use of the vaccine on people younger than 60 years old due to reports of blood clot in inoculated individuals in some countries.
Domingo stressed that the Philippines has yet to record any blood clotting incidents among vaccinated individuals, and other countries rarely record such cases.
"Pero sa Europa saka sa ibang parte ng mundo, nakita na very rare naman ito ‘no, nangyayari sa one-is-to every 150,000 or 1:1 million vaccinees," Domingo said during a virtual press briefing
"So sumulat ako kanina kay Secretary Duque para sabihin sa kaniya na reiterate the benefit outweighs risks and that we should continue ‘no using the vaccine para po sa ating vaccination program," he added.
