Take 2nd dose to get full protection vs. Covid: DOH

MANILA – Filipinos who have taken their first dose of vaccine must get the required second shot to achieve “full protection” against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Department of Health (DOH) said Saturday.

“You only get the maximum potential of the vaccine if you get the two doses… We encourage everybody to take the second shot to get the full protection the vaccine will give,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in Filipino during a Laging Handa briefing.

The statement came following a report that roughly 113,000 individuals have missed their second doses.

Vergeire said the DOH will strengthen its monitoring system, but noted that some of these individuals have “valid reasons” why they failed to get their second jabs, such as existing ailments or exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

“We’re putting two weeks to fours week para sila ay makapagpa-bakuna pa (so that they can still get their missed shot),” she said.

In the same briefing, Vergeire also noted the DOH is working closely with local government units (LGUs) to inoculate more people under the A2 and A3 priority lists.

Vergeire said among the reasons why some of these individuals are not yet inoculated are due to accessibility concerns when logging in at the vaccine portal as well as the distance from their residence to the vaccination site.

“Primarily one of the problems is the access because some LGUs (local government units) and of course some families do not have internet connectivity to get master listed. Secondly, some senior citizens, especially if they are not living with their family, are having difficulty in signing up for these kinds of apps,” she said.

Vergeire assured that the DOH will provide more support to allow LGUs to conduct house-to-house vaccinations.

Based on the June 4 data of the National Task Force Against Covid-19, about 1.25 million individuals have been fully vaccinated with the Coronavac.

The first batch of 525,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses and half of the initial 193,050 Pfizer doses have also been administered.