Children get vaccinated in Taguig City. PHOTOS FROM TAGUIG PIO
MANILA, Philippines — The local government of Taguig City has vaccinated a total of 10,000 children aged five to 17 years old in its COVID-19 immunization campaign in schools.
According to the city’s public information office in a statement, the said campaign was under the Department of Health’s (DOH) PinasLakas immunization program — a drive that aims to vaccinate 90 percent of senior citizens and increase booster shots for the eligible population to 50 percent by bringing vaccines to schools, marketplaces, and transportation terminals.
“As face-to-face classes resume, more than 10k have been vaccinated in the city with their first dose, second dose, first booster, and second booster through the school vaccination drive since August 15, 2022,” the city government said in a statement.
“Teaching and non-teaching personnel of every school were among those who have received their COVID-19 vaccination,” it added.
As of Oct. 28, the city has administered a total of 2,124,944 vaccines, of which 915,159 individuals have received the first dose of the primary series, while 869,922 have completed the first two doses.
Meanwhile, 327,066 have already received their first booster, of which 39,739 got their second booster.
The city government then vowed to visit more schools in the city to further ensure the immunity of the public, especially amid the full implementation of in-person classes, and to further encourage its citizens to get their booster shots once eligible.
It explained that apart from schools, both residents and non-residents who wish to get vaccinated or boosted may walk into the city’s vaccination hubs in all Barangay Health Centers, which are open Monday to Friday, as well as the following places: Lakeshore Vaccine Information Center, Venice Grand Canal Mall, and Bonifacio High Street.
According to the DOH as of November 2, 48.02 percent (or 5,231,460) of the 10,895,015 target population of children aged five to 11 have been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, 112.36 percent (10,020,104) of the 8,917,833 target population of adolescents aged 12 to 17 have already been fully vaccinated. However, only 11.61 percent of 1,035,526 have been boosted.
As of Nov. 5, the country currently has 17,123 active cases of COVID-19.
Just recently, the DOH detected the XBB Omicron subvariant and XBC variant of COVID-19 — both of which are believed to be highly immune-evasive, with the XBB tagged as the main driving force for the recent COVID-19 surge in Singapore, and the XBC being a combination of the BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron and Delta variants
The DOH also earlier warned that virus transmission is likely to increase especially after the observance of “Undas,” and the upcoming Christmas holidays.
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