(PNA photo by Joey Razon)
MANILA – The country's vaccine expert panel is recommending to the Department of Health (DOH) a two-week waiting period before people who contracted the coronavirus can get inoculated.
Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the vaccine expert panel, said in an online media forum Tuesday that people who have recovered from Covid-19 should wait until symptoms disappear before getting vaccinated.
“Optimum interval is 14 days from the recovery," Solante said. “Gagawa pa lang kami ng letter to make that recommendation not to wait for the 90 days to receive the vaccine (We’ll make the letter to make that recommendation not for the 90 days [recovery])."
Other members of the vaccine expert panel could agree on the letter before it is submitted to the DOH, he added.
Under the guidelines of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, patients would have to wait only two weeks from recovery before they are allowed to receive a shot.
Guidelines from the Department of Health, however, state that individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 would have to wait 90 days after recovery before they can be vaccinated or get the second dose of Covid-19 jab.
In cases when a person contracted the disease even after receiving a first shot, Solante said the second dose should be administered 14 days after the patient has recovered.
Single-shot vax
Solante said a one-dose Covid-19 vaccine could be helpful in ramping up the vaccination program.
For a one-dose vaccine, one would just have to wait two weeks for antibodies to work. "That’s significant because you get quicker protection at the same time you get the same protection as that from the two-dose [vaccine],” he said.
Among the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, US-based Johnson and Johnson has produced a one-dose vaccine.
The drugmaker is the latest to have applied its vaccine for an emergency use authorization in the country. According to the Food and Drug Administration, it is now under evaluation.
As of April 3, some 795,320 Filipinos have been vaccinated – 765,871 are medical front-liners; 16,121 are senior citizens; and 13,288 are adults with comorbidities. (PNA)
