FDA reduces booster waiting time

The national government says that the Philippines has enough supply for the Covid19 booster rollout to be accelerated.

This is according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who said that the emergency use authorization (EUA) of Covid19 vaccine boosers has been amended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Primary shots and booster shots will no longer have a prolonged interval. It was initially announced that adults could only get a booster shot six months after the second dose of a primary two-dose vaccine. For the primary single-dose vaccines, the waiting time for boosters was three months.

Now, after the second jab of a primary two-dose vaccine, adults only have to wait three months. Primary single-dose vaccine recipients can get a booster after two months.

“The approval came at an opportune time,” Duque said, “as several other countries have also restrategized [booster rollouts] in light of the Omicron and other Covid19 variants that may emerge.”

The vaccine supply is more than enough to support this, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire. “There are committed doses for our country, almost 200 million doses,” she said in an interview.

20 to 25 million more doses are expected by year’s end, she added.

At present, booster shots are only available for individuals 18 years old and above who are fully vaccinated.

Photo: Rappler