DOH: 109K individuals boosted so far in special COVID-19 vaccination drive

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said at least 109,000 individuals were given booster doses in the special national COVID-19 booster week to ramp up the uptake among the general population.

At a press conference, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said their target for the special vaccination week is at least 1.9 million of the eligible population.

Vergeire said there is a slow booster uptake despite the efforts of the Health Department and the local government units.

“So 'pag tinignan po natin sa first booster accomplishment na iyan really the uptake is very slow. 'Pag tinignan natin lahat ng efforts ng local governments throughout this week lahat intensive,” she said.

“Resources have been used in, lahat ng sectors na mobilized natin, we have these different settings that we are implementing but up until now the uptake is very slow,” she added.

The DOH earlier said the PinasLakas special vaccination week was extended until October 1 to make up for the postponement of its kickoff in Luzon due to Typhoon 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

The PinasLakas campaign aimed to give booster doses to 50% of the country's eligible population or 23.8 million Filipinos within the first 100 days of the Marcos administration.

“So sa ngayon atin po talagang binabahay-bahay ng ating mga LGUs ang ating nakatatanda but still most of those who are mobile and able to go to vaccination sites hindi pa rin po natin nakikita,” Vergeire said.

Asked on the possible reasons for slow booster uptake, Vergeire said “Just like in any part of the world, people have moved on.”

“People have in their minds na kung saan ang mga tao are confident already with the first two doses na meron sila at apparently nagkaroon na rin sila ng sakit so that boost their immunity,” the DOH official said.

“‘Yun po ang pinaniniwalaan at base po ‘yan sa survey. And we would always say that yes natural immunity is good, the first two doses is good. Pero base ngayon sa ebidensya kailangan na ng booster kasi nag-waning immunity,” she added.

Vergeire said the number of fully vaccinated individuals who were being hospitalized due to COVID-19 is increasing, adding that this is an initial indication that the immunity of the population is waning.

She then encouraged the public to get their COVID-19 booster dose to prevent severe and critical cases.

“Hinihikayat natin lahat magpabakuna na po tayo, it is safe, ligtas po ito, epektibo po ito na poprotektahan kayo sa severe at critical. And most importantly, binibigay po itong libre ng ating pamahalaan,” she added.

The DOH earlier said 19,283 PinasLakas sites have been launched all over the country, which include areas such as markets, schools, workplaces, terminals, places of worship, and mobile vaccination sites among others where free, safe, and effective vaccines are made available.—AOL, GMA News