MANILA – The government eyes to administer at least five million doses of Covid-19 jabs during the third run of the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” massive vaccination drive on February 10 and 11.

Of the 59,419,295 fully vaccinated Filipinos, including those with the single-shot Janssen vaccine, a total of 7,704,701 already have booster shots as of February 2.

National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) co-lead and medical specialist, Dr. Kezia Rosario, said areas with low inoculation rates, especially among senior citizens and those with comorbidities, will be prioritized but all jab sites nationwide must operate.

“Magdadagdag pa tayo ng mga vaccination site, especially dito sa mga eco-zones, industrial parks, sa mga university, sa schools ‘no para din mahanap na natin iyong mga may due for booster doses po (We will also add more vaccination sites, especially in eco-zones areas, industrial parks, inside universities, and schools so that we can find those who are due for booster doses),” she said Saturday at the Laging Handa public briefing.

The national government, in partnership with local government units and the private sector, has also implemented various measures to ramp up booster vaccination.

The “Resbakuna sa Botika at Klinika” program, participated in by private clinics and pharmacies, has so far administered 2,242 booster doses.

The vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 will be initially implemented in six Metro Manila sites on Monday, using reformulated Pfizer jabs.

“Nananawagan po kami sa ating mga magulang, na siguradong sigurado po kami na talagang maganda po ang formulation na ito dahil mas mababa at 91 percent ang efficacy (We want to tell the parents that we are sure about the formulation of the vaccines and they have a 91-percent efficacy),” vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a previous statement.

He also cited reports from the United States that there are “very minimal” side effects. (PNA)

Manila —The United States, in partnership with the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, donated an additional 2,703,870 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines as part of its relentless worldwide effort to help end COVID-19, particularly amid the threat of the Omicron variant.
The vaccines, which arrived in Manila on January 9, were part of the 500 million Pfizer doses the United States is making available for distribution through COVAX, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. As the largest donor to the COVAX facility, the United States has facilitated the delivery of over 65 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Philippines, including nearly 25 million doses provided by the American people.
“Thanks to recent deliveries, the COVAX facility and the United States have exceeded our goal of providing enough doses to vaccinate one-in-five Filipinos. We will continue to provide more safe and effective life-saving vaccines to our Filipino friends, partners, and allies as we work to end the COVID-19 pandemic together,” said U.S. Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava.
The United States is working closely with Philippine partners to protect public health and support the local response to COVID-19. In addition to vaccine donations, the U.S. government has also provided more than Php1.9 billion ($39 million) in COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines to support testing, crucial care, communication campaigns, protection and training of health workers, vaccine deployment, and essential equipment and supplies.
To learn more about the U.S. government and American companies’ COVID-19 assistance to the Philippines, visit https://ph.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-us-covid-19-assistance-to-the-philippines/.