More than 171,000 receive 2nd booster shot vs COVID-19, says DOH exec

FILE PHOTO: A medical worker picks a syringe to use for the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine. Yoshikazu Tsuno/Pool via REUTERS

MANILA, Philippines — More than 171,000 individuals have so far availed of the second booster shot against COVID-19, a health official said Friday.

Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said they have recorded to date 171,848 recipients of a second booster shot against the coronavirus disease.

“Yung [for the] second booster, we have a total of about 171,848,” she said during a Laging Handa briefing.

Of this number, 83,000 are senior citizens, according to Cabotaje.

On May 18, the DOH announced that the elderly and health frontliners may already avail a second booster shot against COVID-19.

Based on the DOH guidelines, Pfizer and Moderna will be given at least four months after the administration of the first booster dose for individuals belonging to Priority Group A1: Workers in Essential Health Services, and Priority Group A2: Senior Citizens.

Fully vaccinated

Meanwhile, more than 69.2 million individuals have completed their primary series of the anti-COVID vaccine, Malacañang said in a separate briefing.

Of this number, more than 2.7 million are minors aged 5 to 11 while more than 9.3 million are adolescents (12 to 17 years old) and 6.7 million are senior citizens.

KGA