In the US, the CDC recommends fourth Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccine doses for people age 50 and older.
In the Philippines, 27 million vaccine doses will expire in July 2022, even if as of Friday, April 1, 2022, only 67 million (out of the targeted 90 million) Filipinos are "fully" vaccinated. This is on top of the fact that most of the so-called "fully" vaccinated Filipinos were injected with the substandard and overpriced SINOVAC--the antibodies of which were found to be "low or undetectable" six months after the second shot, thereby rendering SINOVAC ineffective against COVID only six months after the second shot in the absence of a booster shot.
As of March 30, 2022, only 12 million (out the the targeted 90 million) Filipinos have gotten a single booster shot and the DOH is still waiting for the FDA to approve a 2nd booster shot for the elderly and the immunocompromised. In the meantime, "the government is planning to donate some of the expiring vaccines to neighboring countries."
In summary:
- Dutae prioritized the use of (and therefore vaccinated most Filipinos with) a substandard and overpriced vaccine from China which loses its efficacy 6 months after the second shot in the absence of a booster shot.
- This means that most Filipinos that are "fully" vaccinated (currently and inadequately defined by the Philippine government as having had 2 full vaccination shots, even as of April 19, 2022) are practically unvaccinated in the absence of a booster shot.
- And because only 12 million (out of the targeted 90 million) Filipinos have gotten a single booster shot as of March 30, 2022, this means that only 12 million have some protection against COVID and the rest of the population are essentially sitting ducks.
- There are 27 million vaccination doses in the Philippines that will expire in July 2022, which is still short of vaccinating the 23 million remaining Filipinos that have not gotten any COVID vaccinations at all (i.e., 23 million x 2 vaccination shots or 46 million shots in total)--not to mention the 78 million remaining Filipinos that have not yet gotten a single booster shot and the 90 million Filipinos that will probably need a 2nd booster shot eventually.
- In spite of the above gaping shortage of vaccines and booster shots in the Philippines, the government is even considering donating vaccines to neighboring countries.
I recently tried to get a 2nd booster shot in one of these COVID booster counters by the LGU and was informed that they are only allowed to administer the 1st booster shot.
Talk about a complete and absolute Dutae cluster-fuck from inception to its utterly failed resolution . . . and yet the daughter, who has the charisma of an antihistamine tablet, has the temerity to run for public office and espouse the same kind of corrupt and failed governance?
Postscript
In an interview with Karen Davila (ANC Headstart) this morning (April 8, 2022), Dr. Tony Leachon disclosed that, based on various studies, the efficacy of a booster shot wanes after 3 to 6 months. This disclosure is reinforced by the following NPR article. Further, Dr. Leachon pointed out that most of the booster shots in the Philippines were administered in the 4th quarter of 2021. Consequently, he recommended that the so-called "excess" 27 million vaccine doses that will expire in July 2022 be administered as a 2nd booster shot TODAY, which would (a) address the obvious need for a 2nd booster shot (which is still being dribbled by the Philippine FDA) AND (b) avert the July 2022 expiry of the 27 million vaccine doses (that are inappropriately "labeled" by the government as "excess" vaccine doses).
Why is this recommendation, which is a no-brainer, being made by a private citizen, when it should already be implemented by the government TODAY? Instead, Dutae and Duque persist in projecting this fake triumphalist notion that the government has excess vaccination doses to donate to other countries with deadly consequences to our local population.
