A Medical and Dental Bureau (MDB) staffer administers a booster shot against COVID-19 to Deputy Secretary for Legislation Edwin Bellen during the launching of the Department of Health’s “Pinaslakas” booster vaccination program at the Philippine Senate in Pasay City Wednesday, August 10, 2022. (File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) conceded that it would no longer be able to meet its vaccination targets within the first 100 days of the Marcos administration, as the booster campaign has so far reached only about 9 percent of its target population for first boosters.
Maria Rosario Vergeire, the officer in charge of the DOH, said on Wednesday that the current accomplishment rate in the “PinasLakas” campaign is “still very far” from its goals of inoculating 90 percent of the elderly and 50 percent of the eligible population for first booster shots by Oct. 8.
Citing the latest DOH figures, Vergeire said more than 2.1 million individuals received their first boosters while 24,661 senior citizens received their primary shots.
She noted that all the country’s 17 regions have yet to reach at least 50 percent of their first booster coverage. Metro Manila, however, was closing in at 47.89 percent.
—KATHLEEN DE VILLA
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