APPROVAL of the vaccine for African Swine Fever will help repopulate the number of hogs raised in various parts of the country, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said yesterday.
The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) had earlier recommended the Vietnamese-manufactured vaccine for the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.
But DA assistant secretary for operations Arnel de Mesa said the country still needs to import pork.
“Sa supply natin kailangan pa natin mag-import ng ilang karne ng baboy hanggang matapos ang taon. Pero dahil sa development sa vaccine, ine-expect natin magtutuloy ang programa natin for repopulation,” De Mesa said.
“Base sa datos na meron kami, hindi naman kailangan na ganon karami ang i-import kumpara last year,” he added.
BAI assistant director Arlene Vytiaco said once approved, the vaccine will come in different packaging.
There will be a pack with five and 10 doses for small backyard farmers, and 50 doses for commercial growers.
“Ang pagkakalalam ko, may tatlong packaging. Isang five doses, isang 10 doses, isang 50 doses. That might reach, more or less, 600 pesos per dose,” Vytiaco said.
Vytiaco also clarified rumors that the country will not be procuring enough vaccines for the country’s swine population.
She said not all pigs can be vaccinated.
“‘Yung sa vaccine ang pwede lang bakunahan ay ‘yung sa ages 6 to 10 weeks of age, ‘yung growers lang,” Vytiaco said.
“‘Yung 600,000, that’s for this year. For the next three years, one million doses per year ang binibigay sa’tin,” she added. (ABS-CBN News)
