Philippines bracing for pertussis vaccine shortage in May: Health chief

MANILA — The Philippines is expected to see a shortage in pertussis vaccines by the month of May, when current supplies of the jab are estimated to run out, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday.

While the Philippines has placed an order for additional pentavalent vaccines in the first quarter 2024, pharmaceutical companies need around 120 days to manufacture the jabs, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa told state television PTV. 

“June pa siya dadating… Magkakaroon tayo ng shortage sometime in May so ito yung ina-address naming gap,” he said.

“Baka mag-order ako ng another yung old vaccine… kasi yung pentavalent kasi ang vaccine kapag inorder mo, atsaka pa lang nila ima-manufacture yan so may lag time,” he said.

(The vaccines will arrive in June… We will have a shortage sometime in May so this is the gap that we have been trying to address.)

READ: DOH prioritizes 'most vulnerable' for pertussis vaccine

So far, the Philippines has recorded at least 890 cases of pertussis or whopping cough between January and March 2024, data from the DOH showed.

“Forty-nine kids have died because of pertussis since January, kids as young as weeks-old up to under 5,” Herbosa said.

“Although may cases reported na above 5 years old, majority or about 80 percent are 5 years old and below,” he said.

Herbosa attributed the resurgence of the disease to the pandemic lockdowns that hindered parents from taking their children to vaccination centers between 2020 and 2022.

“All hands on deck napunta sa COVID. It is a global phenomenon, hindi lang sa Pilipinas nangyari ito (this is not exclusive in the Philippines),” he said.

Vaccine hesitancy, especially in rural areas, is also a problem, the DOH secretary said, noting that the Philippines is the fourth country in the world with the most number of children who never received any kind of vaccine.

“Nagkaroon ng hesitancy. Part to blame for the hesitancy is social media kasi ang nakita namin ay science is being fought by pseudo-science,” he said.

“Takot sila sa side effects ng bakuna so kulang lang sa information,” he said.

(There has been some hesitancy. Partly to blame for the hesitancy is social media because we see that science is being fought by pseudo-science. They are scared of side effects from vaccines so they might be lacking in information.)

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So far, the government has been actively reminding parents to bring their children to vaccination centers and are also looking at providing jabs for pregnant women to protect newborn babies from pertussis, Herbosa said.

“‘Yung mga bata na months-old, sila yung nakikitang infected. Ang antibodies niyan dapat nanggaling sa mother through breastfeeding o placenta,” he said.

(We saw that some months-old babies were infected. Their antibodies should come from the mother through breastfeeding or through the placenta.)

While the government has yet to procure pertussis jabs for pregnant women, Herbosa said that these are available through prescriptions from obstetricians.

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Aside from pertussis, the DOH is also battling a measles outbreak in the Bangsamoro region.

“Half of the country’s cases of measles from January to March are from BARMM,” Herbosa said.

DOH urges vaccination as pertussis, measles cases rise

The government is also closely monitoring an increase in the number of rabies cases in the country, he said. 

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