THE Provincial Government of Negros Occidental is still waiting for the advice of the Department of Health (DOH) Central Office on what to do with almost 15,000 doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines against coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Dr. Claudelia Pabillo, in-charge of the provincial storage facility, said the vaccines are kept properly at the cold storage facility and there is a possibility that it would still be used for vaccination.
Pabillo said that although the vaccines have an expiration date of November 30, health authorities said its validity could still be extended up until three months.
But it should be kept properly at the cold storage facility, she added.
"It would depend on the assessment of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as they are the agency that issues the Emergency Use Authority (EUA) of the vaccines," Pabillo said.
The 1,462 vials or 14,620 vaccines that already expired on November 30 was part of the delivery received by the province on November 8.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II earlier said the city and municipal health offices were hesitant to accept the said vaccines after they learned that its expiration was already near.
"We value the vaccines and we really wanted to use them but we value more the vaccinees," Diaz said.
"The potency of the vaccine decreases as the period of expiration nears. So we don't roll it out because it may not meet the expected potency of the vaccines. Both are important but we value more the safety of the vaccinees," the provincial administrator added.