DOH: Special COVID-19 vaccination drive extended until October 1

The PinasLakas special vaccination days will be extended until October 1 to make up for the postponement of its kickoff in Luzon due to Typhoon Karding, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire made the announcement after the DOH canceled all PinasLakas activities in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the rest of Luzon on Monday due to the onslaught of Karding.

The special vaccination days program was supposed to be conducted nationwide starting September 26 until September 30 to ramp up the booster uptake in the country. It only pushed through in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

On the first day of the program, Vergeire said that over 66,500 people in Visayas and Mindanao were administered with first booster shots.

Based on DOH's data, at least 19.2 million Filipinos have received their booster shots, while 73 million individuals are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Omicron-specific vaccines

Further, Vergeire said that the DOH has been coordinating with vaccine manufacturers Moderna and Pfizer for the country’s procurement of second-generation COVID-19 vaccines targeting the Omicron variant.

Vergeire said that they already met last month with Moderna, which had asked them for a term sheet. Meanwhile, they are set to meet with Pfizer next week.

“We have been long exploring itong ating mga Omicron-specific na mga bakuna. Alam po at recognized ng gobyerno at ng Department of Health ‘yung importansya nitong mga bakuna na darating na new generation, ang tawag nila, the bivalent vaccines,” she said.

(We have been long exploring these Omicron-specific vaccines. The government and the DOH know and recognize the importance of these new generation vaccines or the bivalent vaccines.)

Vergeire earlier said they are eyeing to buy these new generation COVID-19 vaccines by the first quarter of 2023.—LDF, GMA News