The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Tuesday listed some precautions that needed to observed once the COVID-19 vaccination begins in the Philippines.
PGH, Lung Center, and Jose Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center are the three hospitals in Metro Manila that are expected to administer the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine supplies from the government.
Last week, PGH established its GH Vaccine Deployment Committee led by Dr. Teresa Benedicto and Cecille Peña.
The team already created the master list and the profiling scheme the hospital would use to determine how many employees and front-liners would be vaccinated.
They would also undergo training to ensure safe vaccination.
According to PGH, lactating and pregnant mothers could be given a COVID-19 vaccine, but the level of COVID-19 community transmission, risk of acquiring the disease, and the potential risk to the unborn should be considered.
Meanwhile, immunocompromised individuals could also get vaccinated against COVID-19 as long as they have no contraindications to vaccinations.
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PGH lists guidelines on COVID-19 vaccination
Revaccination is not recommended for those undergoing chemotherapy or taking immunosuppressive drugs and who have since regained their immune competence.
PGH advised those who received monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma treatment of COVID-19 to get vaccinated at least 90 days after receiving such treatment. “Based on the estimated half-life of these treatments, as well as evidence suggesting that reinfection is uncommon in the 90 days after the initial infection, delaying vaccination is a precautionary measure to avoid interference of the antibody treatment with vaccine-induced immune responses,” PGH said.
Those who tested positive for COVID-19 may also get the vaccine, but only after they recovered and finished their quarantine period.
Those who acquired COVID-19 within the last 90 days may delay vaccination until the 90-day period.
Meanwhile, the PGH admitted that they have no idea yet on what COVID-19 vaccine brand would be used for their health workers.
“There were many people asking what type of vaccine would be administered to our health care workers that are considered a priority by the government. We still have no official and certain answer to this,” it said.