The Department of Health and the Department of Science and Technology are to study the possibility of mixing COVID-19 vaccine brands and booster shots for fully vaccinated individuals.
According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH, DOST, and Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) have had “several meetings” to discuss the study.
“The proponent of this trial already presented to us their protocol at dito po ay pag-aaralan ito pong mix-and-match, kung saan puwedeng magpabakuna ng another brand aside from the initial brand that you were given,” she said in a briefing.
(The proponent of this trial already presented to us their protocol to study mix-and-match, where you can get another brand aside from the initial brand that you were given.)
“Kasama rin po sa pag-aaral na ito itong pagbibigay ng (Also included in this study is the) additional shot which is a different brand for those who have completed two doses already,” she added.
Mixing of COVID-19 vaccine brands to be studied
The VEP has an initial study that finds a ‘theoretical basis.’ But because this is just a theory, more information and evidence are still needed.
In January, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said that using two different COVID-19 vaccine brands is not recommended.
“You would not want to toy with the idea of giving different vaccines for the simple reason that if an adverse event following immunization does happen, or an adverse event of special interest, we are going to struggle to identify which of these two different vaccines must have caused it,” Duque told the Senate Committee of the Whole when asked by Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, the chairperson of the Philippine Medical Association’s Adhoc Committee on Vaccination, also warned against such practice.
“This is not recommended. Interchangeability, that’s what we call it, is actually a no-no because no company will be willing to do a study on that kind of process,” she said.
“Most of the results that we will get if this will be done will not really be based on standard procedures,” she added.
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