497K doses of AstraZeneca to expire in June

About 497,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine need to be injected before the end of June so they would not be wasted.

According to DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, one million doses of AstraZeneca have already been vaccinated, in addition to 500,000 for the second dose. He said the 497,000 doses must be used before the end of June.

He said the first and second doses of vaccination are 12 weeks apart.

But Cabotaje assured that the remaining 500,000 of the vaccine would be given before the end of June.

According to Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, an estimated 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca are coming.

As of May 25, 4,495,375 doses of various COVID-19 vaccines have been given to the public under the first four priority groups.

Meanwhile, despite the low supply of the COVID-19 vaccine, some local governments in Metro Manila are still preparing to vaccinate those covered by the A4 and A5 priority groups or the economic frontliners and the poor.

497K doses of AstraZeneca to expire in June

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez had earlier said that vaccination could begin in the A4 group next month or when the vaccine supply is “steady.”

In Valenzuela, the local government unit (LGU) is listing those working in factories in the city so people would not flock to vaccination sites.

“Remember, let’s say a company has about 1,000 employees. Kapag dinala niya sa site ‘yon, baka ang tagal na ng inaantay ng mga iba nating individual registrants kasi kailangan pang tapusin yung 1,000 ng isang company,” said Gatchalian.

“We’re going to open industry-specific vaccination sites. We have 2 – one per congressional district,” he added.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto is awaiting the final guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases while online registration for vaccination continues.

“Mamaya, hindi pala compliant doon sa guidelines na ibababa sa atin. So let’s just be little bit patient. Even ‘yong categorization, baka magbago pa. So antayin na lang po natin,” said Sotto.