BY JOVEN TUNGALA
The Department of Health on Thursday said the country is set to receive a total of six million doses of the vaccine that could protect children from pertussis by July.
In a media briefing, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said the pentavalent (5-in-1) vaccine doses, which offer protection from pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B, were procured by the government.
“We are expecting the arrival of 6 million doses of pentavalent vaccines by July. These were the vaccines procured for the Philippines,” Herbosa said.
Earlier this week, the DOH reported a concerning surge in pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, with the number of cases surpassing 1,000 in the last three months.
According to the DOH, data from January 1 to March 30, 2024, show a total of 1,112 cases since the start of the year with 54 deaths recorded.
The number of cases recorded over the past three months was almost 34 times that of the same period last year, at only 32 cases.
As the number of cases increased, the DOH also warned of a shortage in pentavalent vaccine supply by May.
The DOH previously said that the national government pentavalent (“5-in-1”) vaccine stocks – reported at 64,400 doses last March 25 – are running low.
Herbosa ordered that other options such as Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP) shall be used to prevent gaps while waiting for the new batch of 3 million pentavalent vaccines.
The Philippine market continues to have stocks of pentavalent and TDaP vaccines in the private sector.
