2nd booster shot to ‘reinforce’ immunity: Palace

MANILA – The government’s plan to start providing second Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for some sectors is part of the efforts to strengthen the immune defenses of Filipinos amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Malacañang said Monday.

Acting presidential spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar made this remark after the Department of Health (DOH) announced its planned rollout this week of the second Covid-19 booster shot for an initial batch of 1.8 million healthcare workers, elderly and immunocompromised patients.

“The second booster dose recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and being planned for by the National Covid-19 Vaccination Operations Center is our scientific response to waning immunity,” Andanar said in a press statement.

He said a second Covid-19 vaccine booster should be given because it helps people maintain strong protection from severe Covid-19 and death.

“Our goal is to reinforce the shield that will protect us from any variants already here and that might come in later on. Prevention is better than cure,” he added.

Andanar, meanwhile, denied that Covid-19 vaccine booster shots will be rolled out in anticipation of an uptick in Covid-19 cases next month.

“The administration of the fourth dose, or second booster shot, of Covid-19 vaccines has nothing to do with the potential increase in cases in May 2022,” he said.

Besides getting Covid-19 jabs, he emphasized the need for the public to continue observing standard health and safety protocols.

“As experts warn of an uptick in cases, we must continue to adhere to minimum public health standards such as wearing of masks, washing of hands, observing physical distancing and ramping up vaccination/getting booster shots,” he added.

DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje earlier said the second booster shot rollout will start after the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), an independent advisory body, completes its review.

On April 13, the DOH announced that the FDA has amended the emergency use authorization given to Covid-19 vaccines to allow giving an additional booster shot to healthcare workers, persons 60 years old and above, and immunocompromised patients.

The second booster shot will be given at least four months after the first booster shot.

Cabotaje said 1,806,928 individuals are qualified to receive a second booster shot based on the four-month interval.

The first booster shot is given at least three months after the second dose of a primary-two dose vaccine or at least two months after the primary single-dose vaccine is given.

As of April 11, data from the DOH showed that more than 66.7 million individuals are fully vaccinated, including nine million adolescents and 1.3 million children.

Around 12.5 million individuals have received their booster shots.

The Covid-19 vaccine brands that are currently part of the Philippines’ inventory and have been cleared for emergency use are Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sputnik V, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson (Janssen).

Janssen is the sole single-dose vaccine currently approved for use in the country while the rest are two-dose vaccines.