The authorities in the Philippines are looking at extending the shelf life of COVID-19 vaccines as the country has lagged behind in inoculation.
This came also after thousands of AstraZeneca Plc. shots were reported to have been unused as they expired.
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Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said in a televised briefing on Friday that they were following up Canada which extended the expiration dates of some COVID-19 shots.
Health Canada earlier this year extended the shelf life of AstraZeneca vaccines by a month as the agency cited scientific evidence supporting the move.
The Philippines has administered about 8 million shots at its three-day vaccine drive earlier this week falling short of a target of 9 million jabs. It has lagged behind most of South-East Asia in inoculations.
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To speed up inoculation also, the government plans to hold another mass vaccination drive mid-December.
As per the Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) 517 new Covd-19 infections were reported on Saturday that pushed the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,834,294.
