Palace: OFWs, seafarers may be given COVID-19 booster shots; OK to pick vaccine brand

FILE PHOTO: A Filipino outbound seafarer is getting a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at the Bonifacio Global City Vaccination Hub in Taguig City on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. 📷:Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and seafarers may be allowed to avail of a booster shot against COVID-19, according to Malacanang, as it also advised them to right away request the vaccine brand required by their employers so the jab they would not get will be allocated to others who need it.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, at the same time, appealed to the general public on Monday to just wait for the rest of the population to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus disease before getting booster shots. This comes after reports that some people were getting booster doses or have had multiple inoculations of different vaccine brands in different localities.

“Siguro we can make an exemption doon sa mga OFW, mga seafarers na kinakailangan magpabakuna ng western brands dahil iyon naman po ay requirement ng kanilang mga employers,” Roque said in a press briefing.

(Maybe we can make an exemption to OFWs, seafarers who need to be vaccinated with a western brand vaccine since it is a requirement of their employers.)

“Pero at the same time, kung kayo po ay isang seafarer na alam niyo po na kinakailangan niyo ng particular brand, ‘wag na po kayo magpa-inject ng iba pang brand, kumuha na po kayo ng brand na nirerequire ng inyong employers para sa ganun eh maibigay naman po natin ‘yung ibang mga bakuna doon sa ibang nangangailangan din,” he added.

(But at the same time, if you’re a seafarer and you know that you need a particular brand, don’t get a different vaccine brand, get the brand required by your employers so we can give other vaccines to those who need it.)

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said the government is ready to vaccinate seafarers with western-made COVID-19 vaccines.

Last week, the Quezon City government filed complaints against two individuals for getting a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine despite being fully vaccinated.

Metro Manila mayors have since been urged to penalize persons getting unauthorized COVID-19 booster shots.

KGA