The Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), which advises the Department of Health (DOH) regarding COVID-19 vaccines, should share the blame for the 31 million vaccine doses that expired, Iloilo Representative Janet Garin said Thursday.
“Isa sa masalimuot na katotohanan sa Pilipinas ay ang bawat desisyon ng DOH ay dadaan muna sa HTAC na sa ilang pagkakataon ay nararapat, subalit may ilang sitwasyon na masyadong matagal ang rekomendasyon na bandang huli ay nawawalan na ng bisa gaya na lang sa nangyari sa COVID vaccine,” said Garin in a statement.
According to Garin, while other countries were already administering COVID-19 booster shots, HTAC has yet to decide on when to give booster shots and still waiting on the result of their clinical trials. “They still waited it out and only authorized it by December, when a lot of people were already infected and a lot of people already died. Also, they only allowed a second booster when the COVID-19 vaccines were already about to expire.”
“We have been doing things by the book too much, empowering HTAC so much that DOH decisions will have to depend on the council which does not have accountability. As a result, our resources were wasted,” Garin said.
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