DOH: No AstraZeneca Vax to be Wasted Despite May 2021 Expiration

No AstraZeneca Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine will be wasted despite its fast approaching expiration date of May 2021, the Department of Health (DOH) assures the public.

The 500,000 doses of the said vaccine that was recently received by the Philippines was confirmed by Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire to expire by the end of May 2021. However, a strategy is already in place so that every dose will be put into use, the undersecretary added.

Vergeire further added that the Health Department will have ample time to administer shots as there is enough time for the intervals between the initial and second doses of the vaccine.

“Ang second dose naman niyan, you can give from four weeks to 12 weeks. So pasok na pasok naman po ang ating schedule at aabot naman po lahat sa pagbabakuna natin ito,” she said in a virtual briefing, via PNA.

Dr. Vergeire also added that almost all of the vaccines received via the emergency use authority granted by the government have a relatively short shelf life of six months maximum.

Moreover, the AstraZeneca vaccines has already been started to be administered, with the DOH estimating that around 12,788 people being administered with their first dose of the vaccine already. (GFB)