Concepcion wants private sector to be allowed to use procured doses as booster shots

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The private sector should be allowed to administer their procured COVID-19 vaccine doses as booster shots to further bolster vaccination in the country, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said on Monday.

Concepcion said he has already appealed to the national government to allow the private sector to inoculate its employees since firms have purchased AstraZeneca and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which can be both administered as booster doses.

He proposed that the administration of booster shots should be opened to the general public and the government should just put up fast lanes for those in the priority sector, such as health workers (A1), senior citizens (A2) and persons with comorbidities (A3).

“We should allow the public to also get inoculated and just have fast lanes for the A1 to A3 so we get the entire population moving,” he said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.

“We should not wait for the sequencing anymore. Let’s just allow everybody and grant fast lanes,” he added.

He pressed that the private sector should be allowed to administer booster shots to their employees, especially those who were inoculated by China-made Sinovac vaccines earlier in the year.

“For the private sector, since we have those vaccines already in our storages, I ask them to please allow us to already implement it with our employees, especially those who have taken Sinovac much earlier,” he said.

When he proposed this to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr, Concepcion said “they’re open to the idea.”

“The whole objective is to speed up the inoculation of the entire population. Open up the vaccination for all, grant fast lanes for those that are in the priority sector,” he said.

The national government started administering booster shots to health workers last Nov. 17. 

READ: Health workers can choose COVID-19 booster shot, says DOH

Meanwhile, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities can get their booster shots starting Monday, Nov. 22.

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