Only a third of 36.7M due for booster receive shots: NVOC

MANILA – Only one-third of fully vaccinated individuals who are due for coronavirus booster shots have received their jabs, a health official said Wednesday.

National Vaccination Operations Center Chief Myrna Cabotaje said about 36.7 million eligible individuals are due for booster shots but only 10 million showed up in the vaccination centers to receive them.

“’Yung iba nag-iisip kung kelangan ng booster, ‘yung iba naman, (Some are thinking if a booster is really needed, while others) they don’t see the urgency of the booster,” Cabotaje said.

The NVOC is planning to strengthen the administration of booster shots this March by bringing the Covid-19 jabs to the workplaces.

“‘Yung mga healthcare workers dapat ma-booster, ‘yun ang paiigtingin natin, ‘yung ating mga national government agencies, dun tayo magfo-focus para mabigyan sila ng mga boosters, ‘yung mga economic front-liners natin (The healthcare workers must receive their booster [shots], that’s what we need to strengthen, we’ll focus on the national government agencies and our economic front-liners),” Cabotaje said.

She added that the NVOC would conduct the fourth edition of the national vaccination drive on March 10 with the theme “March to Vaccinate” as they bring inoculation closer to people in their houses and workplaces.

“Tentative date is March 10 so that will be a Thursday, Friday, Saturday,” she said. “We’ll bring not only the vaccines but also the right information, we have social mobilization now, with lower alert level, we can allow more face-to-face communication.”

Adults ages 18 years old and above are eligible to receive their booster shots three months after completing their primary series.

For those who are 17 years old and below, the NVOC said the government has not issued a policy yet whether they qualify for booster shots, but the country’s vaccine experts are studying this possibility.

Cabotaje confirmed that there are Covid-19 vaccines that have expired and are about to expire and they are an “aggregation of donations and procurements by the national government, local governments and the private sectors.”

“We’re still verifying and validating the numbers, kase ‘yung iba (because for the others) we have requested for the extension of shelf life, so as we are ready, we’ll issue the final numbers,” she said.

To date, NVOC data showed that 63 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated – 93 percent of healthcare workers, 62.82 percent of senior citizens, and 92 percent of people with comorbidities have been fully vaccinated.