The World Health Organization (WHO) said it supports the Philippine government’s direction not to disclose in advance the brand of COVID-19 vaccines to be given at sites, saying this would help prevent the gathering of people in vaccination locations.
WHO representative in the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe reiterated that all COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing death and severe disease, and that individuals should not discriminate between brands.
“And if not announcing the vaccine brand will help with that, I think this is a correct step in the right direction because this will help us to manage these kinds of super spreader events from happening and will also encourage people to accept the vaccines that are being rolled out. So we are supportive of this effort,” Abeyasinghe said.
Last week, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the president directed government agencies not to reveal in advance the brand of vaccines to be administered at vaccination sites after seeing the crowding of people in places where the vaccines drug maker Pfizer were administered.
Critics of the policy insist that people have the right to know which type of vaccine would be used on them.
