In a follow-up on a recent report on the Philippines refund demand for unused Dengvaxia, The Manila Times reports that vaccine maker, Sanofi Pasteur has agreed to the demand to reimburse the 1.4 billion Philippine pesos ($28 million).

“Sanofi Pasteur has responded positively to the Philippine Department of Health’s (DoH) request that we provide reimbursement for the doses of Dengvaxia that were not used by the government in the public vaccination program,” the company said in a statement to media on Monday.

“Our decision to reimburse for unused doses is not related to any safety or quality issue with Dengvaxia. Rather Sanofi Pasteur hopes that this decision will allow us to be able to work more openly and constructively with the DoH to address the negative tone towards the dengue vaccine in the Philippines today,” the French firm said in a statement.

“Sanofi Pasteur strongly believes that this tone is due to a misunderstanding of the benefits and risks associated with the dengue vaccine and a lack of awareness amongst the general public, particularly parents of vaccinated children, that the overall benefit of dengue vaccination remains positive in high endemic countries like the Philippines,” it added.

Image/florantevaldez via pixabay
Image/florantevaldez via pixabay