Sputnik V vaccines still waiting fir second dose
ALMOST 300,000 Filipinos who took the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) vaccine are still waiting for their second dose and fear that their first shot would soon lose its efficacy, Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District rep. Rufus Rodriguez said Wednesday.
“I have more than 12,000 of these vaccine takers who received their first jab in June and who were supposed to get the second shot in July. It is now September and there is still no supply,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said his constituents “are afraid that the first dose will not be effective anymore because of the long delay in their second dose and their vaccination will not protect them from COVID-19.”
“I suppose this sense of fear, anxiety and uncertainty is shared by the more than 270,000 other Filipinos who had no choice but to take the Russian vaccine because that was the one delivered to vaccination centers like those in Cagayan de Oro by the Department of Health,” Rodriguez stressed.
He has written Health Sec. Francisco Duque III and vaccine procurement czar Carlito Galvez pleading for the immediate delivery of Sputnik V to his city and other areas that received their first shipment.
Rodriguez reminded them that the government has urged Filipinos not to be choosy on their vaccination and that they should get the vaccine that is available.
“Our constituents were forced to take Sputnik V because no other vaccine was available. But now they are in limbo and in fear. The government has left them hanging,” he said.
He said if there is no Russian vaccine supply that is forthcoming, concerned officials should decide what to do in the case of those who received their first shot of Sputnik V.
“They should say so if our people will get Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or another jab as their second shot, or if they would repeat their vaccination all over again,” Rodriguez said.
Officials have earlier announced that there would be a delay in the delivery of Sputnik V.
