The Department of Health (DOH) is looking at buying bivalent vaccine, known as Omicron specific jabs, against COVID-19, in smaller numbers.

In a press conference Wednesday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said:'' We will procure doses now in smaller amounts to provide for the vulnerable population."

"Once we see that there is high demand for it, then we will just order another batch," she added.

Vergeire's statement comes following a report of having 31.3 million doses of wasted COVID vaccines.

The total vaccine wastage is 12.5 percent of the total of 250.38 million doses of the country.

Vergeire said they will base the numbers on the estimated demand for the vaccines.

Citing a recent DOH survey, she said 90 percent of those that have received booster shots, and 62 percent of those with the primary series have expressed interest in having the bivalent vaccines.

"We did that so we can estimate how many do we need to purchase," she explained.

The DOH is in talks with Pfizer and Moderna over buying bivalent vaccines against COVID-19. DMS