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3M Filipino elderly still unvaccinated vs. COVID-19 —WHO


At least three million of the Philippines' elderly have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

WHO Philippine representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe made the disclosure a day after the Department of Health (DOH) allowed the administration of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare workers and the elderly within the year and for other eligible priority groups by 2022.

Prior to the DOH's decision, WHO recommended giving a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to senior citizens or those aged 60 years old and above who got Chinese vaccine Sinovac or Sinopharm for the first and second vaccine doses.

"We should start [on administering third dose] on those most severely immunocompromised who are those aged over 80, then over 70, then over 60. That is our position now to maximize the benefit of the third dose," Abeyasinghe said during the Laging Handa briefing.

"But the priority should still be giving first and second dose to those who are yet able to get a [COVID-19 vaccine] shot, and that is about three million of elderly in the Philippines, unfortunately," he added.

The Philippines started its COVID-19 vaccination program ON March 1, but it has only started vaccination of minors aged 12 to 17 last October 15 in Metro Manila since the vaccine supply has only been stable this month.

Abeyasinghe said that while COVID-19 vaccination among minors outside Metro Manila can proceed, providing equitable vaccine supply to provinces should take precedence.

"We also need to be conscious of the equity issues. With increased availability of vaccines, we continue to urge the LGUs (local government units) in those regions to make sure that as they roll out the vaccines, they ensure the prioritization is also followed," he said.

The government's priority listing for COVID-19 vaccination lists health workers as priority followed by the elderly population, persons with comorbidities, essential workers or the members of the labor force, and the general population.

"We need to continue to ensure that the adults, the priority groups, are vaccinated, and that the children, as they start going out, continue to follow the minimum public health standards," Abeyasinghe said. —KBK, GMA News

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