A pharmaceutical company is urging the Senate not to concentrate its investigation only on Dengue Vaccine alone but also to probe on other immunization programs.
The pharmaceutical company Sanofi Philippines is urging the members of the Philippine Senate to conduct an investigation into all adverse incidents involving not just dengue vaccines but also other immunization programs of the Department of Health (DOH).
Sanofi Philippines External Affairs Office Head Gerard Paez said that the Senate investigation must be extended to other immunization programs of the DOH to avoid another deadly incident from taking place in the future.
Paez said his suggestion for the investigation on other immunization programs of the Health Department is geared toward having areas for improvement and prevention of death.
The pharmaceutical firm head said they welcome the conduct of an investigation by the Senate because it can give them a chance to talk about the efficiency and safety of the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
He added that the negative information about the dengue vaccine are not accurate and a mere result of misunderstanding.
Paez said their vaccine was researched and tested for two decades by conducting 25 trials in 15 nations involving more than 40 thousand volunteers.
By this, Sanofi said that the safety and efficacy of their vaccine cannot be denied.
On December 6, Tuesday, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee started the investigation looking into the alleged anomalous purchase of dengue vaccine amounting to P3.5 billion in 2015.
It was alleged that the vaccination of Grade 4 pupils in Luzon during a school-based immunization program last April was done it “indecent haste”.
Although Paez claim that the only reported adverse effects of the Dengue vaccine were minor such as fever and rashes, the death of an 11 year old boy with heart ailment was blamed to their company.
But he maintained that there is no anomaly with the dengue immunization program of the DOH and even the agency denied that their vaccine caused the boy’s death.
Despite the controversy, Sanofi would still continue to work with the Philippine government to get rid of dengue.