Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Saturday that while health care workers who refuse to be injected with Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine will retain their priority status when their preferred brand becomes available, others do not share this privilege.
Roque previously said Filipinos cannot be “picky” when it comes to the brand of the vaccine. That statement was met with criticisms even by lawmakers. However, Roque explained in January that only one brand was expected soon, and that anything approved by the Food and Drug Administration is safe to use.
The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine this week, which will be the first to be rolled out in the country. The 600,000 doses donated by the Chinese government will be welcomed by President Rodrigo Duterte and other officials. The FDA earlier flagged that the CoronaVac is not recommended for health care workers exposed to COVID-19 patients because it has a low efficacy rate of 50.4% for this group.
As a result of this recommendation, medical workers are now given the opportunity to choose vaccine brands other than Sinovac, Roque said.
“Ang pagbabago po sa ating protocol, kung ayaw po ng health care worker ang Sinovac, pupwede po siyang tumanggi at hindi mawawala ‘yung kanyang prayoridad kapag dumating na yung bakunang gusto niya,” Roque said in a media briefing.
“Pero pang health care workers lang po ‘yan ah. Sa lahat po kinakailangan pa rin talaga, kung ano po ang naririyan ay tatanggapin natin. Kung ayaw naman po ay wala talagang sapilitan,” he clarified.
Roque also stressed that the CoronaVac is safe and effective, which is why the IATF approved its use on medical frontliners, as recommended by Philippine health experts.
