Rappler
Galvez, Duque want all AstraZeneca doses on hand used as 1st dose for health workers
President Rodrigo Duterte expressed hesitation to use all 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines as initial vaccinations for health workers.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez proposed distributing all AstraZeneca doses as first jabs to broaden protection for more healthcare workers.
They cited the need to protect more health workers from the risk of the coronavirus.
Duterte's concern was that there might not be enough vaccines for the required second dose administration within the recommended timeframe.
Duque and Galvez allayed these fears by stating that the recommended interval for the second dose is 12 weeks.
They also informed the President that an additional 979,200 vials of AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility are expected to arrive on March 22 or early April.
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See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.
President Rodrigo Duterte approved the use of 525,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses as the first shot for medical front-liners.
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The Department of Health (DOH) assures that the 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, which expire in May, will be administered before their expiration date.
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An initial 386 vials of AstraZeneca vaccines, containing 3,860 doses, were allocated for Bacolod City and Negros Occidental province.
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The Philippine National Police (PNP) is set to begin its vaccination drive on Monday using AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, prioritizing healthcare workers with comorbidities in the National Capital Region.
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As of March 17, 240,297 health workers have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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