COVID-19 vax drive in pharmacies to administer 100 doses per site daily —gov't adviser

Pharmacies that will conduct COVID-19 vaccination will offer up to 100 doses per day each during the pilot run of the “Resbakuna sa mga Botika” in Metro Manila, an adviser to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said Thursday.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, NTF medical adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa said the allocation would be increased if many people would avail of the vaccination program.

“About 100 sa bawat site. Yun po muna ang doses of vaccines na ibibigay, 50 to 100 [About 100 in every site. Only 50 to 100 vaccine doses will be given for now],” he said.

The government is set to roll out COVID-19 vaccines in seven pharmacies in Metro Manila on Thursday and Friday to allow them to administer the shots amid the COVID-19 surge in the country.

According to Herbosa, only four pharmacies would open the vaccination this Thursday while the other three would open on Friday. He said only booster shots would be given in the weeklong pilot run.

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said the following pharmacies and clinics in Metro Manila will be participating in this initiative:

• Mercury Drug in Pres. Quirino Avenue, Malate, Manila
• Southstar Drug in Marikina
• Watsons in SM Supercenter Pasig
• Generika Drugstore in Signal 1, Taguig
• The Generics Pharmacy in Edison St. Sun Valley, Parañaque
• QualiMed Clinic in McKinley Road, Makati
• Healthway in Manila

According to the NTF, all individuals aged 18 and above, aside from senior citizens and individuals with comorbidities, can get their COVID-19 vaccine through the program.

Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon on Wednesday said walk-ins are allowed but they will still need to register online once at the pharmacies.

“Ang aming plano ay araw-araw po once na magsimula ang isang botika ay tuloy-tuloy na yan. Araw-araw at tuloy-tuloy ang pag supply ng gobyerno,” Dizon said.

(Our plan is that once a pharmacy starts, it will continue. The government will continuously supply them with vaccines.)

Interviewed on CNN Philippines on Thursday, Dizon said the seven pharmacies and clinics will administer vaccines daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. after the initial rollout.

He also reminded the public to bring their vaccination cards as well as valid government IDs.

“To avail a booster, dadalhin lang nila yung kanilang vaccination card na nagpapakita na bakunado na sila ng dalawang beses [They just need to bring their vaccination card to avail a booster],” he said.

As of January 16, the NTF said a total of 55,195,486 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. —with Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA News