DA assures no expired ASF vaccines will be used

The Department of Agriculture (DA) assured on Tuesday that expired vaccines will not be used or purchased in the fight against African swine fever (ASF).

Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa clarified that despite some stocks reaching their expiration dates due to delays in processing and approval, new batches with a validity period of two years will be procured.

SINAG Chairperson Rosendo So expressed concerns about using expired AVAC live vaccines during a TWG meeting, but De Mesa assured that the procurement process is ongoing and no expired vaccines are currently in possession by the government.

The DA has allocated PHP350 million to procure 600,000 doses of ASF AVAC live vaccines under the government-controlled vaccination program.

Batangas province declared a state of calamity due to the ASF outbreak and is expected to receive around 10,000 emergency procured vaccine doses next week.