3 COVID-19 vaccine makers pass ethics review in PH

The 3 manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine have already passed through the country’s ethics review board and will be subjected to evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire identified manufacturers as Janssen of Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca of Europe, and Clover Biopharmaceuticals of China.

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“Approved na rin sa ethics review board ang Janssen, ang AstraZeneca, at saka ‘yong Clover,” said Vergeire.

The government has given a confidentiality agreement to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

According to Malacañang, 25 million Filipinos will be prioritized in the COVID-19 vaccination program, of which 1.7 million are frontliner health workers.

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There are two different types of priorities regarding immunization: geographical and sectoral priorities, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque clarified.
Here are the top 5 priority sectors and the number of populations it will provide per group:
  • 1st priority- Frontline health workers (1,762,994)
  • 2nd priority- Indigent senior citizens (3,789,874)
  • 3rd priority- Remaining senior citizens (5,678,544)
  • 4th priority- Remaining indigent population (12,911,193)
  • 5th priority- Uniformed personnel (525, 523)

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for US Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have previously stated that there is a greater chance of the elderly being in critical condition or dying due to severe illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 – the virus-carrying COVID-19.

3 COVID-19 vaccine makers pass ethics review in PH

According to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, only 66% of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated against the deadly virus once the COVID-19 vaccines arrive in the country.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured that the COVID-19 vaccines used would undergo a thorough examination and need appropriate government agencies’ certifications.

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Meanwhile, Duque continues to remind the public not to be careless and still follow health protocols.

“Mayroong complacency sa ibang lugar. There is no room for complacency,” said Duque.

Duque toured the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange this Monday to see the health protocols implemented there, especially as more people are expected to use the terminal as Christmas approaches.

As of Monday, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country has reached 441,399 after registering 1,574 new cases.

But of that number, only 24,125 were active cases due to 408,702 recovering from the disease, and 8,572 died.